Page 6 - ELG2107 Jul Issue 476

NEWS .

Language travel works

By Gill Ragsdale
Time spent in an English
native speaking country is
generally seen as a valuable
way to accelerate and broaden NAASSOM AZEVEDO ON UNSPLASH
language learning. In 2019, over
half a million English language
learners came to study English
in the UK. But is the experience
worth the time and expense?
Wen-Ta Seng and a team of
researchers from Taiwan set
out to quantify just how much
students gained from study abroad
language programmes compared
to students studying in their home
country. Details of how they
carried out their study are given
in the box (opposite page).
Their overall finding was that
study abroad programmes have a
relatively large effect on language
learning outcomes compared to
studying at home. The overall
effect size (g) came out at 0.9,
which is generally considered
to be a medium-large effect – it
suggests that 82% of students of the individual study abroad U-shaped relationship, with Although most of the data came
studying in their home country programmes: beginners making rapid from English language learners,
would obtain lower test scores • Program content gains that slow down at almost half came from learners of
than any average student on a o Some programmes focus on intermediate level, but other languages. By far the largest
study abroad programmes. formal language learning, accelerate as advanced effect was for learners of French,
To put this into a more general with classes on specific students engage more with Japanese and Spanish (g > 1.0)
educational context, when John linguistic structures and native speakers. compared to a significant but
Hattie published the effect sizes their application, while more modest effect for English
of 252 influences on education, other courses are more Tseng also broke down the effect language learners (g = 0.6).
ranging from ‘classroom discussion’ content based, focusing on, of study abroad programmes in The gap between English
to ‘homework’, he found the for example, history and terms of the specific linguistic language gains when compared
average effect size was 0.4. He culture. Courses with more gains made by students. The to French, Japanese and Spanish
called this the ‘hinge point’. When formal language teaching largest effects were found in may reflect the different outcome
judging whether an intervention were more effective. measures of speaking and re- measures used. For example, there
was making a positive difference • Type of residence ceptive vocabulary knowledge were higher scores on the widely
it should have an effect size of o Staying with a host family (g = 1.0). Positive effects were used ACTFL-OPI compared to
0.4 or more. By this standard, was more effective than also seen on measures of writing, more demanding EFL tests, such
clearly study abroad programmes staying with other students listening and pragmatic knowl- as TOEFL, which assess listening,
are having a positive effect on in a dormitory or hostel. edge (g > 0.6). writing and reading, as well
language learning. • Length of stay Areas which showed no gains as speaking.
Compared to previous studies o The course lengths ranged compared to domestic study All in all, Tseng’s study shows
on the effectiveness of study from three weeks to 1.5 programmes were grammar, that studying abroad can provide
abroad language programmes, years. The sweet spot seems reading and working memory. a boost to language learning
Tseng went further and examined to be around three months Students in this study ranged in compared to studying at home,
the moderating influences on – students who stayed on age from 10 to 33 years, and age and highlights factors to consider
language gains, breaking down their course abroad for 13 did not influence the effectiveness for both the students and
the overall effect into particular weeks or more were more of these study programmes. language schools.
factors. Despite the strong likely to outperform those Typical of education more
overall effect, digging further into studying at home. generally, the effectiveness of a REFERENCE
the data revealed a great deal • Learner’s language level programme depends on how you n Tseng, W-T, Liu, Y-T, Hsu, Y-T
of variation between different o Beginner level students choose to measure the outcome. and Chu, H-C (2021) ‘Revisiting
individual studies and even appeared to make the In this study, measures of the effectiveness of study abroad
between different programmes greatest gains, followed oral proficiency (predominantly language programmes: A multi-
within the same studies. by advanced students, ACTFL-OPI) showed greater level meta-analysis’ Language
Tseng identified the following then intermediate. Tseng gains than standardised tests Teaching Research https://doi.
factors influencing the effectiveness suggests there may be a and in-house assessments. org/10.1177/1362168820988423
6 July 2021