Cover not available
Article published In:
Study Abroad Research in Second Language Acquisition and International Education
Vol. 3:1 (2018) ► pp.32–57

Oral language development among Mandarin learners in Chinese homestays

 | University of Arizona
 | Center for Applied Linguistics
 | Georgetown University
This mixed-method study describes the oral Mandarin development of 25 American students living in Chinese homestays, and how it may relate to the ways they respond to opportunities for interaction with their host families. While scholars have begun to examine students’ Mandarin development during their sojourns in China, there is little research regarding changes in their holistic oral proficiency and how such changes may be related to the quality of interaction they have with their interlocutors. The results of this study show robust gains in proficiency ratings of their oral performances over the course of one semester. A case study of two purposefully selected student performances – one who demonstrated the most prominent proficiency gains and the other who showed no gains – reveals differences in the ways they respond to opportunities for interaction. These findings provide suggestions on ways to best facilitate students’ learning experience while living with host families.
Keywords: Mandarin Chinese, study abroad, oral proficiency, homestay, second language learning
Article outline
  • 1.Introduction
  • 2.Literature review
    • 2.1Oral proficiency development among study abroad students
    • 2.2Quality of interaction within the homestay setting
    • 2.3Linking the everyday with the proficiency measures
  • 3.Methods
    • 3.1Participants
    • 3.2Procedures
      • Simulated Oral Proficiency Interview (SOPI)
      • Recorded student-host family conversations
      • Student surveys
  • 4.Analysis
    • Proficiency of the sample
    • Case analysis
  • 5.Findings
    • 5.1Oral proficiency changes
    • 5.2Case analysis: Vocabulary
    • 5.3Case analysis: Topic management
  • 6.Discussion
  • 7.Pedagogical implications
  • Acknowledgements
  • References
Published online: 30 March 2018
DOI logo
https://doi.org/10.1075/sar.17002.dia
References (44)
References
ACTFL. (2012). ACTFL Proficiency Guidelines – Speaking. Retrieved from <[URL]>.
Baker-Smemoe, W., Dewey, D. P., Bown, J., & Martinsen, R. A. (2014). Variables affecting L2 gains during study abroad. Foreign Language Annals, 471, 464–486. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Brecht, R. D., Davidson, D., & Ginsberg, R. (1995). Predictors of foreign language gain during study abroad. In B. F. Freed (Ed.), Second language acquisition in a study abroad context (pp. 37–66). Amsterdam: John Benjamins. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Center for Applied Linguistics. (1995). Rater training kit: Chinese speaking test. Washington, DC: Center for Applied Linguistics.Google Scholar
Clancy, P. M., Thompson, S. A., Suzuki, R., & Tao, H. (1996). The conversational use of reactive tokens in English, Japanese, and Mandarin. Journal of Pragmatics, 26(3), 355–387. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Cook, H. M. (2008). Socializing identities through speech style: Learners of Japanese as a foreign language. Bristol: Multilingual Matters. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Davidson, D. E. (2010). Study abroad: When, how long and with what results? New data from the Russian front. Foreign Language Annals, 431, 6–26. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Dewey, D. P., Belnap, R. K., & Hillstrom, R. (2013). Social network development, language use, and language acquisition during study abroad: Arabic language learners’ perspectives. Frontiers: The Interdisciplinary Journal of Study Abroad, 221, 84–110. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Di Silvio, F., Donovan, A., & Malone, M. E. (2014). The effect of study abroad homestay placements: Participant perspectives and oral proficiency gains. Foreign Language Annals, 47(1), 168–188. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Di Silvio, F., Diao, W. & Donovan, A. (2016). The development of L2 fluency during study abroad: A cross-language study. The Modern Language Journal, 100(3), 610–624. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Diao, W. (2016). Peer socialization into gendered L2 Mandarin language practices in a study abroad context: Talk in the dorm. Applied Linguistics. 37(5), 599–620 DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Diao, W., Freed, B., & Smith, L. (2011). Confirmed beliefs or false assumptions? A study of home stay experiences in the French study abroad context. Frontiers: The Interdisciplinary Journal of Study Abroad, 211, 109–142. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Du, H. (2013). The development of Chinese fluency during study abroad in China. The Modern Language Journal, 97(1), 131–143. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
(2015). American college students studying abroad in China: Language, identity, and self-presentation. Foreign Language Annals, 48(2), 250–266. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Duff, P. A. (2008). Case study in applied linguistics. New York, NY: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.Google Scholar
Fernández, J., & Gates Tapia, A. M. (2016). An appraisal of the Language Contact Profile as a tool to research local engagement in study abroad. Study Abroad Research in Second Language Acquisition and International Education, 1(2), 248–276. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Freed, B. F., Dewey, D., Segalowitz, N., & Halter, R. (2004). The Language Contact Profile. Studies in Second Language Acquisition, 261, 349–356. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
He, A. W. & Young, R. (1998). Language proficiency interviews: A discourse approach. In R. Young & A. W. He (Eds.), Talking and testing: Discourse approaches to the assessment of oral proficiency (pp. 1–24). Amsterdam: John Benjamins. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Hernández, T. (2010). Promoting speaking proficiency through motivation and interaction: The study abroad and classroom learning contexts. Foreign Language Annals, 43(4), 650–670 DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Iino, M. (2006). Norms of interaction in a Japanese homestay setting: Toward a two-way flow of linguistic and cultural resources. In M. DuFon & E. Churchill (Eds.), Language learners in study abroad contexts (pp. 151–173). Clevedon: Multilingual Matters. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Institute of International Education. (2015). Open Doors Report on International Educational Exchange. Retrieved from <[URL]>.
Isabelli-García, C. (2006). Study abroad social networks, motivation and attitudes: Implications for second language acquisition. In M. DuFon & E. Churchill (Eds.), Language learners in study abroad contexts (pp. 231–258). Clevedon: Multilingual Matters. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Jin, T., & Mak, B. (2012). Distinguishing features in scoring L2 Chinese speaking performance: how do they work? Language Testing, 301, 23–47. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Kim, J., Dewey, D. P., Baker-Smemoe, W., Ring, S., Westover, A., & Eggett, D. L. (2015). L2 development during study abroad in China. System, 551, 123–133. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Kinginger, C. (2008). Language learning in study abroad: Case studies of Americans in France. Modern Language Journal, 921, monograph. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
(2009). Language learning and study abroad: A critical reading of research. New York, NY: Palgrave Macmillan. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Kinginger, C., Lee, S. H., Wu, Q., & Tan, D. (2016). Contextualized language practices as sites for learning: mealtime talk in short-term Chinese homestays. Applied Linguistics. 37(5), 716–740. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Kramsch, C. (1986). From language proficiency to interactional competence. The Modern Language Journal, 70(4), 366–372. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Lindseth, M. U. (2010). The development of oral proficiency during a semester in Germany. Foreign Language Annals, 43(2), 246–268. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Lu, X. (2012). The relationship of lexical richness to the quality of ESL learners’ oral narratives. The Modern Language Journal, 961, 190–208. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Magnan, S. S., & Back, M. (2007). Social interaction and linguistic gain during study abroad. Foreign Language Annals, 401, 43–61. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Maxwell, J. A. (2010). Using numbers in qualitative research. Qualitative Inquiry, 16(6), 475–482. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
(2013). Qualitative research design (3rd ed.). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.Google Scholar
Milleret, M. (1991). Assessing the gain in oral proficiency from summer foreign study. ADFL Bulletin, 221, 39–43. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Pellegrino Aveni, V. (2005). Study abroad and second language use: Constructing the self. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Rivers, W. P. (1998). Is being there enough? The effects of homestay placements on language gain during study abroad. Foreign Language Annals, 311, 492–500. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Segalowitz, N., & Freed, B. (2004). Context, contact, and cognition in oral fluency acquisition: Learning Spanish in at home and study abroad contexts. Studies in Second Language Acquisition, 261, 173–199. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Shiri, S. (2015). The homestay in intensive language study abroad: Social networks, language socialization, and developing intercultural competence. Foreign Language Annals, 481, 5–25. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Shively, R. L. (2013). Learning to be funny in Spanish during study abroad: L2 humor development. The Modern Language Journal, 97(4), 930–946. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
(2016). An activity theoretical approach to social interaction during study abroad. L2 Journal, 8(2), 51–57. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Vande Berg, M., Connor-Linton, J., & Paige, R. M. (2009). The Georgetown Consortium Project: Interventions for student learning abroad. Frontiers: The Interdisciplinary Journal of Study Abroad, 181, 1–75. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Wilkinson, S. (1998), Study abroad from the participants’ perspective: A challenge to common beliefs. Foreign Language Annals, 311, 23–39. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
(2002). The omnipresent classroom during summer study abroad: American students in conversation with their French hosts. The Modern Language Journal, 86(2), 157–173. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Young, R. (2013). Learning to talk the talk and walk the walk: Interactional competence in academic spoken English. Ibérica, 251, 15–38Google Scholar
Cited by (1)

Cited by one other publication

Ke, Chuanren & Yuan Lu
2024. Study abroad experiences in homestay: where complexity, dynamicity, and individuality stay. Applied Linguistics Review DOI logo

This list is based on CrossRef data as of 29 october 2024. Please note that it may not be complete. Sources presented here have been supplied by the respective publishers. Any errors therein should be reported to them.