Cover not available
Article published In:
Study Abroad Research in Second Language Acquisition and International Education
Vol. 2:1 (2017) ► pp.1–20

Sleeping with strangers

Dreams and nightmares in experiences of homestay

| Macquarie University

Based on narratives from Hong Kong students on one-semester programmes at universities in Australia, Britain and Canada, this study focused on the emotional charge of expectations and day-to-day realities of homestay. It showed how, for many of the students, this emotional charge was related to the adoption of imagined identities as family members within the homestay. It also showed how a corresponding sense of inclusion or exclusion could arise from recognition or non-recognition of these imagined identities. The students’ experiences of homestay were often shaped by an expectation that a degree of emotional intensity within a family environment would lead to a successful language learning experience. Paradoxically, emotionally disturbing experiences could also contribute to a positive overall experience from the student’s perspective, if they led to a stronger sense of emotional inclusion. The experience was least satisfying overall in homestays where students were unable to feel this sense of inclusion.

Keywords: study abroad, homestay, emotion, foreign language learning, family
Article outline
  • 1.Introduction
  • 2.Homestay
  • 3.Emotion and identity in study abroad
  • 4.Methodology
  • 5.Findings
    • 5.1Homestay: The shared experience
    • 5.2Expectations of homestay
    • 5.3Dreams come true
    • 5.4Homestay nightmares
  • 6.Discussion
  • 7.Conclusion
  • Note
  • References


This article is currently available as a sample article.

Published online: 13 July 2017
DOI logo
https://doi.org/10.1075/sar.2.1.01ben
References
Akbar, H., Van Bael, T., Hassan, Y., & Baguley, G.
(2004) Evaluating the QUT Homestay Program: Lessons learnt in providing quality services to international students. Proceedings of the 15th ISANA international education conference. Melbourne, Vic.: ISANA International Education Association Inc. Retrieved on 10 October 2015, from [URL]>
Allen, H.
(2010) Interactive contact as linguistic affordance during short-term study abroad: Myth or reality? Frontiers: The Interdisciplinary Journal of Study Abroad, 191, 1–26. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Arnold, J.
(Ed.) (1999) Affect in language learning. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Bachner, D., & Zeutschel, U.
(2009) Participants’ reflections on the meaning and impact of an international homestay experience. Münster: Waxmann Verlag.Google Scholar
Barkhuizen, G.
(2010) An extended positioning analysis of a pre-service teacher’s better life small story. Applied Linguistics, 31(2), 282–300. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Barkhuizen, G., Benson, P., & Chik, A.
(2014) Narrative inquiry in language teaching and learning research. New York, NY: Routledge.Google Scholar
Benson, P.
(2012) Individual difference and context in study abroad. In W. M. Chan, K. N. Chin, S. K. Bhatt, & I. Walker (Eds.), Perspectives on individual characteristics and foreign language education (pp. 221–238). Berlin: Mouton de Gruyter. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Benson, P., Barkhuizen, G., Bodycott, P., & Brown, J.
(2013) Second language identity in narratives of study abroad. London: Palgrave. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Bown, J., & White, C. J.
(2010) Affect in a self-regulatory framework for language learning. System, 381, 432–443. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Chaseling, M.
(2001) Homestay: A home away from home. In P. Bodycott & V. Crew (Eds.), Language and cultural immersion: Perspectives on short term study and residence abroad (pp. 113–122). Hong Kong: Hong Kong Institute of Education.Google Scholar
Chik, A., & Benson, P.
(2008) Frequent flyer: a narrative of overseas study in English. In P. Kalaja, V. Menezes & A. M. Barcelos (Eds.), Narratives of learning and teaching EFL (pp. 155–170). London: Palgrave.Google Scholar
Coleman, J.
(2015) Social circles during residence abroad: What students do, and who with. In R. Mitchell, N. Tracy-Ventura, & K. McManus (Eds.), Social interaction, identity and language learning during residence abroad (pp. 33–52). (Eurosla Monographs Series 4).Google Scholar
Cook, H.
(2006) Joint construction of folk beliefs by JFL learners and Japanese host families. In M. A. DuFon & E. Churchill (Eds.), Language learners in study abroad contexts (pp. 120–150). Clevedon, UK: Multilingual Matters. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Crealock, E., Derwing, T. M., & Gibson, M.
(1999) To homestay or to stay home: The Canadian-Japanese experience. TESL Canada Journal, 161, 53–61. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Crew, V., & Bodycott, P.
(2001) Reflections on short term study and residence abroad. In P. Bodycott & V. Crew (Eds.), Language and cultural immersion: Perspectives on short term study and residence abroad (pp. 141–149). Hong Kong: Hong Kong Institute of Education.Google 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
Gallucci, S.
(2013) Emotional investments during the Year Abroad: A case study of a British ERASMUS student in Italy. Apples: Journal of Applied Linguistics Studies, 7(2), 17–37.Google Scholar
Garrett, P., & Young, R. F.
(2009) Theorizing affect in foreign language learning: An analysis of one learner’s responses to a communicative-based Portuguese course. The Modern Language Journal, 93(2), 209–226. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Gutel, H.
(2008) The home stay: A gendered perspective. Frontiers: The Interdisciplinary Journal of Study Abroad, 151, 173–188. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Iino, M.
(2006) Norms of interaction in a Japanese homestay setting – Toward two-way flow of linguistic and cultural resources. In M. A. DuFon & E. Churchill (Eds.), Language learners in study abroad contexts (pp. 151–173). Clevedon, UK: Multilingual Matters. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Jackson, J.
(2008) Language, identity and study abroad: Sociocultural perspectives. London: Equinox.Google Scholar
(2016) The language use, attitudes, and motivation of Chinese students prior to a a semester-long sojourn in an English-speaking environment. Study Abroad Research in Second Language Acquisition and International Education, 1(1), 4–33. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Kinginger, C.
(2004) Alice doesn’t live here anymore: Foreign language learning and identity construction. In A. Pavlenko & A. Blackledge (Eds.), Negotiation of identities in multilingual contexts (pp. 219–242). Clevedon, UK: Multilingual Matters. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
(2008) Language learning in study abroad: Case studies of Americans in France. Modern Language Journal, 981, 1–124. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
(2009) Language learning and study abroad: A critical reading of research. New York, NY: Palgrave Macmillan. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
(2015) Language socialization in the homestay: American high school students in China. In R. Mitchell, N. Tracy-Ventura, & K. McManus (Eds.), Social interaction, identity and language learning during residence abroad (pp. 53–74). (Eurosla Monographs Series 4).Google Scholar
Kinginger, C., Wu, Q., Lee, S-H., & Tan, D.
(2016) The short-term homestay as a context for language learning: Three case studies of high school students and host families. Study Abroad Research in Second Language Acquisition and International Education, 1(1), 34–60. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Klapper, J., & Rees, J.
(2012) University residence abroad for foreign language students: Analysing the linguistic benefits. The Language Learning Journal, 401, 335–358. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Knight, S. M., & Schmidt-Rinehart, B. C.
(2002) Enhancing the homestay: Study abroad from the host family perspective. Foreign Language Annals, 35(2), 190–201. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
(2010) Exploring conditions to enhance student/host family interaction abroad. Foreign Language Annals, 43(1), 64–71. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Magnan, S. S., & Back, M.
(2007) Social interaction and linguistic gain during study abroad. Foreign Language Annals, 40(1), 43–61. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
McGregor, J.
(2014) “Your mind says one thing but your emotions do another:” Language, emotion, and developing transculturality in study abroad. Die Unterrichtspraxis/Teaching German, 47(2), 109–120. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Mendelson, V. G.
(2004) "Hindsight is 20/20:" Student perceptions of language learning and the study abroad experience. Frontiers: The Interdisciplinary Journal of Study Abroad, 101, 43–63. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Mitchell, R., McManus, K., & Tracy-Ventura, N.
(2015) Placement type and language learning during study abroad. In R. Mitchell, N. Tracy-Ventura, & K. McManus (Eds.), Social interaction, identity and language learning during residence abroad (pp. 115–138). (Eurosla Monographs Series 4).Google Scholar
Murdoch, P., & Adamson, B.
(2003) The effects of a short term study abroad programme upon sociolinguistic competence in the use of English as a second language. In P. Bodycott & V. Crew (Eds.), Language and cultural immersion: Perspectives on short term study and residence abroad (pp. 101–112). Hong Kong: The Hong Kong Institute of Education.Google Scholar
Oxford, R. L., Acuña, G. P., Hernández, M. S., & Smith, A. L.
(2015) “A language is a mentality:” A narrative, positive-psychological view of six learners’ development of bilingualism. System, 551, 100–110. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Patron, M-C.
(2007) Culture and identity in study abroad contexts: After Australia, French without France. Bern: Peter Lang. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Pavlenko, A.
(2012) Multilingualism and emotions. In M. Martin-Jones, A. Blackedge, & A. Creese (Eds.), Handbook of multilingualism (pp. 454–469). London: Routledge.Google Scholar
Pellegrino Aveni, V.
(2005) Study abroad and second language use: Constructing the self. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Piller, I., & Takahashi, K.
(2006) A passion for English: Desire and the language market. In A. Pavlenko (Ed.), Bilingual minds: Emotional exploratory practice, expression, and representation (pp. 59–83). Clevedon: Multilingual Matters.Google Scholar
Rivers, W. P.
(1998) Is being there enough? The effects of homestay placements on language gain during study abroad. Foreign Language Annals, 31(4), 492–500. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Schmidt-Rinehart, B. C., & Knight, S. M.
(2004) The homestay component of study abroad: Three perspectives. Foreign Language Annals, 37(2), 254–262. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Shiri, S.
(2015) The homestay in intensive language study abroad: Social networks, language socialization, and developing intercultural competence. Foreign Language Annals, 48(1), 5–25. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Stevick, E. W.
(1976) Memory, meaning and method. Rowley, MA: Newbury House.Google Scholar
Vasquez, C.
(2011) TESOL, teacher identity and the need for ‘small story’ research. TESOL Quarterly, 45(3), 535–545. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Wilkinson, S.
(2002) The omnipresent classroom during summer study abroad: American students in conversation with their hosts. Modern Language Journal, 861, 157–173. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Cited by

Cited by 6 other publications

Benson, Phil
2021. Space in narrative inquiry on second language learning. System 102 ► pp. 102602 ff. DOI logo
Kinginger, Celeste & Julia Carnine
2019. Language learning at the dinner table: Two case studies of French homestays. Foreign Language Annals 52:4 ► pp. 850 ff. DOI logo
Pérez-Vidal, Carmen & Cristina Sanz
2023. Chapter 1. Research methods in study abroad. In Methods in Study Abroad Research [Research Methods in Applied Linguistics, 4], ► pp. 9 ff. DOI logo
Sauer, Luzia
2020. Linguistic and motivational changes of a German adolescent student in New Zealand. Study Abroad Research in Second Language Acquisition and International Education 5:2 ► pp. 175 ff. DOI logo
SAUER, LUZIA & ROD ELLIS
2019. The Social Lives of Adolescent Study Abroad Learners and Their L2 Development. The Modern Language Journal 103:4 ► pp. 739 ff. DOI logo
Shively, Rachel L.
2023. Chapter 3. Qualitative approaches in L2 research abroad. In Methods in Study Abroad Research [Research Methods in Applied Linguistics, 4], ► pp. 59 ff. DOI logo

This list is based on CrossRef data as of 13 april 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.