Measuring social interaction during study abroad: Quantitative methods and challenges
Introduction
Accurate measurement is important for second language acquisition (SLA) studies. (Norris and Ortega, 2003, Seliger and Shohamy, 1989). To understand language acquisition, we must observe and measure it; to determine the contribution of any variable to SLA development, we must accurately gauge that variable. We cannot draw solid conclusions about how SLA occurs without accurately measuring language acquisition and the factors that influence it. Pedhazur and Schmelkin (2013) note, “Of various definitions of measurement in socio-behavioral sciences, the preeminent, although by no means universally accepted, is one offered and elaborated upon by Stevens… (1968) ‘the assignment of numbers to aspects of objects or events according to one or another rule or convention’ (p. 850)” (p. 16). Measurement as defined here will be the focus of this paper.
In the study abroad (SA) setting, one challenge is determining the degree to which learners are immersed in the second language (L2). While learners are generally thought to experience all-out immersion in the L2 while abroad, some research challenges this assumption (Diao et al., 2011, Iino, 2006, Magnan and Back, 2007, Wilkinson, 1998a, Wilkinson, 1998b). Evaluating the accuracy of this assumption and establishing more clearly the amount of contact learners have with locals and the degree to which they use the L2 are challenges that merit careful and thoughtful measurement.
Studies of language contact during SA have gathered information on time spent reading, writing, listening to, and speaking the L2 (Badstübner and Ecke, 2009, Dewey, 2004, Ferenz, 2005, Llanes and Botana, 2015, Pérez-Vidal and Juan-Garau, 2009). Understanding amount of time using the L2 and how that time is used in a SA setting can enhance general knowledge of the processes of SLA. When acquiring a language in communities where the language is not spoken natively, access to written linguistic resources is typically greater than availability of native speaker interlocutors (see Tse, 2001). Hence, SA provides greater opportunity for exposure to and interaction in the L2 than at-home foreign language learning and social interaction in the L2 is therefore a rich topic for research in SA.
From an SLA perspective, one could argue for promoting social interaction through SA in the name of increasing input (Krashen, 1981, Krashen, 1985), providing opportunities for negotiating meaning with interlocutors (Long, 1985), being forced to output language necessary for various communicative interactions (Swain, 1993, Swain, 1998, pp. 127–140), or encouraging the higher-order cognitive activity involved in participation in cultural and linguistic settings requiring meaningful social interaction (Lantolf and Appel, 1994, Lantolf and Pavlenko, 1995, Lantolf and Poehner, 2014, Lantolf, 2000). Based on Krashen, 1981, Krashen, 1985 input hypothesis, one could argue for the importance of exposure to extensive input and the value of having a readily available native speaker (NS) interlocutor adjust that input to be comprehensible. One could also emphasize the importance of experiencing a broad range of communicative situations during SA (conversational frames, confirmation checks, clarification requests, self-repetitions, other repetitions, expansions, or other adjustments) where the speaker needs to work with an L2 interlocutor to accomplish various communicative goals (Long, 1985). Next, advocates of SLA through social interaction abroad could argue for SA to promote “pushed output” (Swain, 1985). Swain states, “Comprehensible output is, unfortunately, generally missing in typical classroom settings, language classroom and immersion classrooms [at home] being no exception” (p. 252). Swain contrasts classroom learners with “street learners” who are forced to engage in more “two-way, negotiated meaning exchanges” (p. 247). SA participants could be characterized as “street learners” who are pushed to engage in such negotiated meaning exchanges. Finally, advocates of sociocultural theory could argue that SA provides an ideal setting for social interaction through formal, organized institutional settings such as schooling, internships, and sport activities, but also through informal social interaction with host families, neighbors, peers, and others. Learning can be mediated by authentic objects within the SA setting and scaffolded by other speakers of the L2 (both native and nonnative), and individuals can move beyond their current independent capacities as they stretch toward the higher end of their zone of proximal development through the scaffolding of others around them. In short, interaction with and scaffolding by others in one's environment is a key component of SA in line with sociocultural theory (Lantolf and Appel, 1994, Lantolf and Pavlenko, 1995, Lantolf and Poehner, 2014, Lantolf, 2000). Johnson and Golombek, 2011, Johnson and Golombek, 2016 illustrate well from a sociocultural perspective how SA can better prepare teachers to engage learners in dialogic interaction in the classroom based on the needs of out-of-class social interaction typical of immersive SA. From all four of these perspectives (input, interaction, output, and sociocultural), the value of investigating social interaction is clear.
In this paper, I focus on the measurement of L2 social interaction during SA based on the assumptions that SA is important for SLA and that accurate measurement is critical for understanding the SA experience and its linguistic benefits. I show that social interaction can be measured in multiple ways and from various perspectives, and that each of these approaches can contribute to our understanding of SLA during SA. Although qualitative methods such as ethnographies, interviews, and journal studies are valuable for understanding social interaction, treatment of these methods is beyond the scope of this study, so they are only touched on to illustrate the value of mixed methods.
Section snippets
Measuring social interaction: the language contact profile, language logs, and social network surveys
L2 social interaction abroad has been measured using a number of tools, including the Language Contact Profile (LCP), language logs, and social network surveys. The LCP and language logs focus primarily on amount of time spent using the L2 in various situations, and social network surveys focus on the individuals a person interacts with and relationships with those individuals.
Recent innovation in measuring L2 social interaction
One of the strengths of self-reports is that they allow quantification valuable for identifying trends across the data and statistical relationships between social interaction, L2 use, and SLA abroad. This strength can also be a limitation, since self-reports tell us little about the nature of an individual's experience. Coleman (2013) and Kinginger (2009) emphasize the need to go beyond generalization and better understand the diversity of individual SA: “Individual trajectories are in fact
Conclusion
Understanding how learners use language and interact with others while abroad is a challenge that has involved a broad range of measurement techniques. The LCP, an early tool used in this effort, is a practical and quick means of gathering data that has been extensively used in a range of variations, yielding mixed results in terms of connections with SLA. A common LCP findings is extensive reported use of the L1 during SA. Variations in LCP makeup and administration, along with differences in
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