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Study Abroad Research in Second Language Acquisition and International Education
Vol. 9:2 (2024) ► pp.188–216

“It’s like I got a new pair of glasses”

Reflections on sense of self, home, and belonging among transnational students in short-term study abroad programs

ORCID logo | Paderborn University
This study focuses on a specific group of sojourners that has thus far remained rather unexplored in the context of study-abroad research, namely, students with extensive prior experiences of living in, traveling to, and/or familial ties with target-language mediated communities. To this end, this study examines data obtained through episodic interviews with three American students, who grew up in close contact with German-speaking communities and studied abroad in Austria for four weeks. By means of thematic analysis, the pre-study abroad sojourn motives and reflections on sense of self, home, and belonging are contrasted with these students’ immediate and delayed post-study abroad accounts. The results shed light on both the challenges young adults grapple with due to their international biographies and the transformative effects students attribute to their short-term sojourns with regard to redefining who they are and what meaning different places of home and heritage have within their individual trajectories.
Keywords: short-term study abroad, transnational students, sense of self, belonging, multiple case study, episodic interview, thematic analysis
Article outline
  • 1.Introduction
  • 2.Literature review
    • 2.1Conceptualizations and characteristics of transnational sojourners
    • 2.2Sense of self, home, and belonging in SA contexts
  • 3.Research methodology
    • 3.1Participants and SA program features
    • 3.2Data collection and analysis
  • 4.Results
    • 4.1Adrian
      • 4.1.1Pre-sojourn interview
      • 4.1.2Return interview
      • 4.1.3Final interview
    • 4.2Alan
      • 4.2.1Pre-sojourn interview
      • 4.2.2Return interview
      • 4.2.3Final interview
    • 4.3Nicole
      • 4.3.1Pre-sojourn interview
      • 4.3.2Return interview
      • 4.3.3Final interview
  • 5.Discussion
    • 5.1Sojourn expectations and motives
    • 5.2Reflections on sense of self, home, and belonging
    • 5.3Limitations
  • 6.Conclusions
  • Notes
  • References
Published online: 21 May 2024
DOI logo
https://doi.org/10.1075/sar.22024.mul
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