Does listening comprehension improve as a result of a short study abroad experience?

Abstract

The need to function in multilingual environments and the fact that study abroad (SA) is believed to be one of the most efficient language learning contexts (Collentine, 2009) have boosted the popularity of SA programs. While numerous recent studies have examined the SA impact on oral fluency, vocabulary or writing, among others, certain areas, such as listening skills (Llanes, 2011), have yet to receive substantial attention. In an attempt to address this issue, a pretest-posttest design study was conducted to gauge the listening skills of 12 college students at the beginning and the end of a 5-week SA experience in Costa Rica. Results from non-parametric tests revealed that despite the brief duration of the program, participants’ overall listening comprehension improved significantly. Individual analysis revealed that significant gains emerged in exit tasks in which the topic of conversation was kept consistent, suggesting that contextualization plays a crucial role in input comprehension.

Exploring perceived capacity to speak in silent English majors: A longitudinal study before, during, and after study abroad

“…Overall, CTS increased, but it plateaued in the post-SA phase. While other studies have noted this plateau where speaking fluency ceases to increase during SA (Huensch & Tracy-Ventura, 2017;Llanes & Serrano, 2011;Robson, 2015b), our participants blamed the lack of post-SA opportunities to use English (Allen, 2021). In countries such as Japan, where English is not the first language, there are scant opportunities to speak this target language authentically.…”

The influence of a short stay abroad experience on perceived foreign accent

“…Most studies focusing on oral fluency, vocabulary, listening and sociolinguistic skills find that spending time abroad is beneficial for the development of these language areas (Llanes & Muñoz, 2009;Llanes & Prieto Botana, 2015;Milton & Meara, 1995;Regan, Howard, & Lemée, 2009). However, research in other areas, including pronunciation, writing skills and grammar, reports somewhat contradictory findings (Collentine, 2004;Llanes & Muñoz, 2013;Mora, 2008;Pérez-Vidal & Juan-Garau, 2009;Stevens, 2011).…”