The purpose of this mixed‐methodology study was to investigate linguistic and affective outcomes of summer study abroad (SA) participation by 25 college French students. This investigation sought to determine if significant changes occurred in two linguistic factors, oral and listening French skills, and two affective factors, integrative motivation and language anxiety after SA. This research also examined whether pre‐SA affective differences existed for SA participants versus non‐SA peers. Results demonstrated that French linguistic skills improved significantly and that classroom and nonclassroom language anxiety after SA decreased significantly. Integrative motivation of the SA group was unchanged after the experience. Pre‐SA affective differences did not exist between SA participants and non‐SA peers. Analysis of interviews and program evaluations suggested that participants faced two sources of language anxiety while abroad: linguistic insecurity and cultural differences. Implications of this study include (1) the continued endorsement of summer SA programs to enhance communication skills, (2) the need for greater pre‐SA emphasis on “nonacademic” factors to reduce foreign language anxiety, and (3) the importance of SA programs including contact with native speakers in class and during informal learning, in order to stimulate attitudinal changes as well as linguistic gains.

This study investigated the development of language‐learning motivation during short‐term study abroad (SA) for six intermediate‐level students of French. Taking an activity theory perspective, findings demonstrated that one of two orientations motivated participants to study or continue studying French at the college level: linguistic motives or career‐oriented motives. The choice to study abroad was seen as either a critical step to achieving fluency or a means of travel and cultural learning. Enhanced language‐learning motivation emerged to varying degrees for participants with linguistically oriented motives for learning French who viewed SA as a language‐learning experience but not for participants with primarily pragmatic reasons for learning French and participating in SA. Implications of the study include the need for curricular intervention in student learning abroad.

This comparative case study explored the motives and goals of two American students participating in short-term study abroad (SA). Findings, interpreted from an activity theory perspective, demonstrated that despite similar language-learning histories and demographic characteristics, the students were learning French and participating in SA for different reasons. Dissimilarities between their language-learning motives and goals for SA led to differences in their experiences using French and interacting with host families and, later, to shifts in goals and language-learning strategies. These findings offer support for a relational definition of the context of learning during SA wherein context is emergent from individuals’ language-learning motives and reasons for engaging in SA, goals for SA, and resulting actions. Practical implications of this study include the need for intervention in student learning during SA.

Numerous scholars have critiqued a lack of focus on foreign language (FL) writing in the second language (L2) acquisition research base and in FL programs in the United States. This position article argues for reimagining the role of writing to maximize learners’ 21st‐century skill development and FL programs’ contributions to broader institutional missions. After discussing selected research on L2 writing and its uptake in FL curricula, an integrated pedagogy is proposed—a design approach—that incorporates insights from New Literacy Studies and L2 writing research and posits writing as a purposeful, collaborative act of communication that entails both learner agency and attention to textual conventions. Key foci of this approach are highlighted, and a description is provided of how a design approach relates to challenges in FL writing instruction. Finally, next steps in researching and implementing this approach are offered.