L2 Journal: An electronic refereed journal for foreign and second language educators

Claire Kramsch introduces the Special Issue on 'Study Abroad During COVID and Beyond".

Robert Blake and Kimberly Morris intoduce their Special Issue on Study Abroad During COVID and Beyond.

The pandemic has impacted every aspect of academic life, including study abroad (SA), with 93% of programs canceled worldwide in 2020 (IIE, 2020). Long lasting consequences for SA are expected (Dietrich, 2020): a reduction in participation rates, an increase in online SA, and changes both in the nature and the importance of the factors that students consider for SA, with a potential new emphasis on health and personal safety. Our mixed-methods study relies on surveys and interviews to investigate Covid’s impact on students’ notions of the nature of SA as well as the factors guiding their choices. The MSA (Motivation to SA questionnaire: Anderson & Lawton, 2015) was adopted, adding two new factors: health and language learning. Two hundred twenty-nine participants were recruited during 2021; they belong in one of three categories: (a) students whose SA plans were canceled due to the pandemic, (b) students planning to SA, and (c) students who had not and will not participate in SA. Results indicate that the original MSA factors remain unaltered, that language development is an important motivation to participate, and that health-related factors rank high, especially for minority and low-income students for whom it is almost the number one factor, suggesting the possibility that participation rates for members of these groups are further reduced. Additionally, interview data reveal that for students, SA programs are defined by an immersive academic experience in another country. However, participants value online collaborations with students and faculty at international institutions when integrated in their on-campus coursework.

We report on a survey study of a group of U.S. students studying abroad in 22 different countries in the fall of 2021 and spring of 2022 (N = 261), as universities around the world began returning to in-person instruction but where a good deal of instruction was still conducted online or in some hybrid modality and where a range of COVID-19 restrictions were still in place. The anonymous online survey asked the students to estimate their concerns about the pandemic and study abroad prior to departure, gauge the level of COVID-19 restrictions in their study-abroad location, and then report on the impact of the pandemic on their learning, academic performance, and social interactions while abroad. Additionally, for those who were abroad for the purpose of improving or learning a language other than English, the survey had respondents share their perceptions of how the pandemic impacted their language learning. The survey also asked the students to elaborate on strategies or resources used to cope with the (negative) effects of the pandemic. The quantitative results show that pandemic-related restrictions were significantly associated with students’ learning overall, language learning, academic performance, and social interactions, and that the students reported the greatest impact on social interactions compared with other aspects of the study-abroad experience. The data also suggest that the greater the percentage of instruction the students had in online or hybrid modalities, the greater the impact on their learning overall. The qualitative data triangulated with the quantitative data to show that the respondents reporting greater COVID-19 restrictions and a higher percentage of online or hybrid instruction experienced greater stress, anxiety, and difficulties with learning, socializing, and engaging with the culture abroad. Language learners in online classes reported feeling less motivated and having difficulties focusing; those who were in in-person classes reported comprehension and communication difficulties due to mask rules. That said, some respondents reported reaping benefits from more online and hybrid instruction. And many of the respondents shared strategies that mitigated their difficulties which give reason for optimism about ongoing pandemic-related restrictions and the increasing ubiquity of online and hybrid instructions during study abroad. We then sketch the contours of what appears to be the new normal in study abroad and some implications for study-abroad programs and educators indicated by these findings. Limitations of the study and directions for further research are presented.

Some of the simplest affordances of study abroad became unavailable when students stayed stateside because of the pandemic-induced disruptions to international travel. These ranged from touring city and historical/cultural landmarks, having spontaneous and chance interactions with locals, participating in the performance of traditions and practices, visiting homes, engaging in domestic activities with host families and local peers, and developing a sense of community with other fellow students. This paper reports on three alternate, virtual cultural activities that were launched during the pandemic between a U.S. university and its study abroad partner institution in Morocco in order to help compensate for the health disruption. Survey responses, cultural products, and reflections from 118 participants were collected for this study over two Arabic summer intensive programs at the stateside university. The study explores the effectiveness of these activities in promoting intercultural competence and student engagement during this period and speculates on how they can be integrated into the regular programming post-pandemic in order to further enhance immersion.

To what extent can the transformative power and language learning affordances provided by the study abroad experience be virtualized? The large-scale shift away from on-site study abroad to online learning in 2020-2021, caused by the COVID pandemic, has made it possible to compare data for in-person immersion learning versus digitally mediated forms of direct instruction and second language (L2) community engagement of otherwise similarly prepared L2 learner cohorts. The present study compares measured proficiency outcomes, as well as other performance-based data of late-adolescent and young adult U.S. participants in a group of federally sponsored overseas intensive immersion study programs for Arabic, Chinese, and Russian operating abroad for the period 2017-2019 and as virtual programs in 2020-2021 (in-person N=1388 and virtual N=770). Program data for early-stage learners, mid-level learners, and advanced learners are analyzed separately by target language, initial proficiency levels, and program durations. As a result of the COVID pandemic, all programs shifted from in-person format to virtual instruction, provided by the existing overseas partner faculties, who adapted core curricula, group instruction, direct enrollment courses and tutorials for use in both synchronous and asynchronous forms of online instruction. Similarly, organization of homestay visits, internship programs and cultural programming was also shifted to virtual format. Given the importance of language contact and L2 interactions, this study provides comparisons of both aggregate and activity-specific L2 time-on-task levels for both cohorts, documenting comparable levels of instructional time available within the two formats (18 hours/week), but less than half the available hours to the virtual student for informal L2 contact and community engagement activities. Comparisons of the speaking proficiency outcomes by language and training levels revealed a relatively consistent gap in mean gain levels across languages, with participants in the virtual groups attaining on average one proficiency sub-level lower in speaking gains than their respective face-to-face counterparts. Comparisons of reading, listening, and writing outcomes, however, showed smaller differences, sometimes none at all. Intercultural Development Index (IDI) and other data related to participants’ cultural competencies, including cultural referencing, self-presentation (Identity Competence), socio-pragmatic strategy selection, lexical and collocational choices, and other markers were observed generally to fall short of the standards set in previous years by students enrolled in the in-person versions of the same programs. Finally, the study takes note of curricular and technological interventions introduced during the COVID period which have been recommended for adoption in the new cycle of in-person programs in 2022-2023 and beyond.

Social network analysis (SNA) examines the relationships that an individual speaker creates and maintains with others in order to explain and predict language behavior. Over the past 20 years, SNA has been used by a growing number of researchers to better understand the language learner and the language learning process, especially in the context of study abroad (SA) in the target-language (TL) environment. Some of the earliest applications to L2 acquisition operationalized SNA through primarily qualitative data about learners’ attitudes toward the target culture and their interactions with TL speakers (Isabelli-García, 2006; Lybeck, 2002), while later studies have focused on developing quantitative measures of network strength based on criteria such as network density, multiplexity, and dispersion (Baker-Smemoe et al., 2014; Dewey et al., 2012, 2013; Kennedy Terry, 2017, 2022a, 2022b; McManus, 2019). This research establishes the central role of social networks in L2 acquisition and demonstrates how and why SNA has become one of the most effective tools for analyzing and predicting L2 acquisition during SA. This review also considers the increasingly important role of technology in the creation and maintenance of social networks between learners and TL speakers in a world affected by recurring health crises.

The onset of COVID-19 has prompted world language professionals to reconceptualize best practices in second language (L2) teaching and research during a time of limited interaction due to social distancing across the globe (Morris, 2022). Not surprisingly, study abroad programs that once fostered communicative and intercultural development were put on pause, also halting opportunities for the transformative learning that can occur in immersion contexts (Leaver et al., 2021). Because study abroad can provide L2 learners with authentic L2 input and opportunities for meaningful interaction in diverse social contexts in ways that traditional classrooms simply cannot replicate, it provides fertile ground for L2 pragmatic development, particularly when supported with explicit instruction (Morris, 2017). This paper provides evidence from two studies of pragmatics that justifies the importance of getting back abroad to maximize L2 pragmatic development. The first study of 16 advanced L2 Spanish learners at home revealed limited pragmatic knowledge among all participants, including those who had studied abroad, thus pointing out the shortcomings of uninstructed pragmatic development. The second study of beginning L2 Spanish learners abroad confirmed the development of pragmatic competence among all students, particularly those who received a task-based instructional treatment. These studies signal that it is not only important to get back to Rome, per se, but also essential to support students in discovering what the Romans do, along with how, when, and why they do it, thus supporting their communicative effectiveness both in and out of the classroom as we move through and beyond the pandemic.

Language-related Study Abroad (SA) experiences can be catalysts for learner transformation in the areas of cognition, socialization, and/or affect by virtue of the location and experience. An Open Architecture Curriculum Design (OACD) framework can support, promote, and enhance such transformation, as evidenced in eight programs for young adults, including language students in government programs, referenced in this article. An educational philosophy that focuses on language learner transformation, Transformative Language Learning and Teaching (TLLT) has as its primary goals personal transformation that leads to multilingual/multicultural competence and learner autonomy; OACD is a fundamental principle of TLLT. Grounded in the work of Mezirow (1978, 1991), who first observed and described Transformative Learning (TL) in adult education, TLLT posits that the personal transformation cited involves cognitive, emotional, and cultural shifts occurring within the individual as s/he develops self-awareness, resolves disorienting dilemmas, identifies cognitive distortions, manages emotions, and ultimately integrates two (or more) cultures—the home culture and the target culture--on their own terms. TLLT in SA can be expressed as in-country study experience, virtual experience, language program with a service component, or in-country work experience with a language component. SA TLLT, in varying formats, has been used successfully in university, service academy, and government learning environments before, during, and after COVID—and continues to evolve with changing times.

Due to health and travel restrictions, COVID-19 has presented unusual challenges to international education. Meanwhile, the pandemic has also become a historical juncture overlapping with other political and cultural moments (e.g., renewed Black Lives Matter movement, resurgence of anti-Asian racism, extreme weather phenomena). These events have propelled a reconsideration of the complex relationship between access to and participation in study abroad, language learning, and social and environmental justice. In this paper, we draw on our collective experiences as practitioners and researchers across three languages (Arabic, Mandarin, Spanish) to argue that study abroad must be a part of equitable and sustainable world language education curricula. We begin by reflecting on existing issues related to access and participation in U.S.-based study abroad and the underlying ideologies that reinforce them. We then provide possibilities – within our spheres of influence – to reconceptualize study abroad from critical and translingual perspectives in an effort to contest ideologies and shift towards a more diverse and inclusive study abroad programming. Lastly, we suggest possible ways to better integrate at home, virtual, and study abroad opportunities in language learning curricula, some of which may serve as alternatives to study abroad, especially in an environmentally and politically volatile world where social privilege shapes access to international education.

The language that is used to refer to COVID-19 is changing to reflect how the disease evolves. One of the changes is the use of the word endemic to replace pandemic, a modification that implies far reaching effects on goals for language acquisition and cultural integration, particularly in the context of study abroad. Study abroad programs need to be constantly responsive to living, working, traveling, and studying within a framework of the continued presence of a disease that shows no sign of abatement. In this chapter, the author will compare past goals of study abroad and new goals that administrators, faculty, and students are collectively creating as they adapt to acquiring language and culture in a learning environment that is now, by default, in flux requiring hybridized and flexible activities and objectives. Focal comments by administrators, faculty, and students are included in order to present perspectives on how COVID has impacted each of these groups.

The COVID-19 pandemic has wrought changes to the landscape of education abroad. This paper reviews some of the operational gaps exposed by the pandemic circumstances and then advocates for enhanced notions of communication, collaboration, and community needed to embrace change and close prior gaps. The paper concludes that developing a nuanced appreciation for the academic and personal realities of today’s students will facilitate increased access to the benefits of study abroad, thereby encouraging cross-cultural awareness and second language learning.

Afterword to the Special Issue

Author biographies for Special Issue