•  
  •  
 

Journal of Undergraduate Research

Keywords

pronunciation, starting proficiency, second language, listening and speaking skills

College

Humanities

Department

Germanic and Slavic Languages

Abstract

Study abroad programs have long enjoyed the prestige of being considered an exceptionally effective way to become fluent in a second language (Freed 1998). This conclusion has been supported by a multitude of studies. Smith, Aten, and Baker (2009) showed that German students on an 11-week study abroad in Berlin and on a similar study abroad in Vienna improved their accentedness, fluency, and comprehensibility in the course of the program. Moreover, Freed (1998) notes that many large-scale studies tend to find overall improvement in the listening and speaking skills of students participating in a study abroad. However, not all studies corroborate this claim. Freed herself found in the same study that in small-scale studies, some students do not progress. Martinsen (2008) found that 20-40% of students on study abroad make no measurable improvement over the duration of the program. The purpose of this study is twofold: first, to examine whether a study abroad has a positive effect on the pronunciation of students learning German, thereby providing a valuable piece of information for assessing whether or not a study abroad is helpful in achieving desired proficiency; second, to compare the improvement of three groups (beginning, intermediate, and advanced pre-program proficiencies), into which the students are divided by an assessment taken in the first week of the program. To guide the study, we asked the following questions:

Download

Share

COinS