Abstract

L2 proficiency gains during study abroad vary widely across individuals and programs, and much of the research in the study abroad literature attempts to identify the causes of this variance. Social network data has proven useful in explaining some of the variance in oral proficiency gains (Baker-Smemoe, Dewey, Bown, & Martinsen, 2014; Isabelli-García, 2006), and the current study builds on those findings by applying the same methodology to listening and reading proficiency in addition to speaking. Proficiency gains in listening, reading, and speaking were measured for 17 students from a US university studying abroad in Nanjing, China for one semester. Social network measures focused on interaction with native speakers (NS) were taken at the beginning, middle, and end of the study abroad program using the Study Abroad Social Interaction Questionnaire. Linear regression analyses showed that social network measures accounted for nearly 46% of the variance in listening gains, nearly 82% of the variance in reading gains, and nearly 46% of the variance in oral proficiency gains. These findings make a strong case for applying social network methods to understand listening and reading proficiency gains in study abroad.

Degree

MA

College and Department

Humanities; Linguistics and English Language

Rights

http://lib.byu.edu/about/copyright/

Date Submitted

2018-12-01

Document Type

Thesis

Handle

http://hdl.lib.byu.edu/1877/etd12274

Keywords

study abroad, social networks, Mandarin, listening proficiency, reading proficiency

Language

english

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