Social Capital and Language Acquisition during Study Abroad

Authors

Dan P. Dewey, Brigham Young University - ProvoFollow
M Smith, Brigham Young University - Provo
Christophe G. Giraud-Carrier, Brigham Young University - ProvoFollow
D. Gore, Brigham Young University - ProvoFollow

Keywords

Social Capital; Second Language Acquisition; Study Abroad

Abstract

We study the role of social capital in language acquisition during study abroad. Using data collected from 204 participants in Japanese study abroad programs, we show that students who leverage social capital through bridging relationships feel they achieve higher levels of language improvement. Furthermore, an analysis of the topics participants discuss with locals suggests that there are significant differences between students who have a tendency to build close-knit networks and students who cast a broader net.

Original Publication Citation

Smith, M., Giraud-Carrier, C., Dewey, D. P., Ring, S., & Gore, D. (2011). Social capital and language acquisition during study abroad. Proceedings of the 33rd Annual Cognitive Science Society Conference. http://palm.mindmodeling.org/cogsci2011/papers/0466/paper0466.pdf.

BYU ScholarsArchive Citation

Dewey, Dan P.; Smith, M; Giraud-Carrier, Christophe G.; and Gore, D., "Social Capital and Language Acquisition during Study Abroad" (2011). Faculty Publications. 6889.
https://scholarsarchive.byu.edu/facpub/6889

Document Type

Peer-Reviewed Article

Publication Date

2011

Publisher

Wiley-Blackwell

Language

English

College

Humanities

Department

Linguistics

University Standing at Time of Publication

Full Professor

Copyright Use Information

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