The L2 Self and Identity: Exploring What Spanish as a Foreign Language Means for Former Mixed-Major Study Abroad Sojourners
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.36366/frontiers.v34i2.492Keywords:
L2 self, identity, person-in-context, post-sojourn, study abroadAbstract
The present study seeks to offer insights into how former study abroad students, temporally beyond the period of initial re-entry into their home environments, perceive Spanish as a foreign language in their lives now. This post-sojourn period is explored within the framework of the L2 Motivational Self System (Dörnyei, 2009) and the expanded model of investment (Darvin & Norton, 2015). Written and oral narratives were collected from a sample of ten former mixed-major sojourners, who had studied abroad between 11 – 40 months earlier in Spain. They were now living and working elsewhere. The narratives were analyzed adopting a thematic analysis method (Braun & Clarke, 2006, 2013), for patterns across the dataset. Findings showed four dominant themes: (1) identity echoes; (2) a pivotal experience; (3) sustaining or not sustaining; and (4) enduring value. In the interests of economy, we focused on the words of five participants.
Abstract in Spanish
Este estudio trata de entender cómo estudiantes que en su día realizaron una estancia en el extranjero, en la actualidad perciben el español como lengua extranjera en sus vidas pasado el período inicial de regreso a casa. La etapa posterior a la estancia se explora en el marco del Sistema Motivacional del Yo (Dörnyei, 2009) y de un concepto ampliado de inversión en el aprendizje de una lengua (Davin & Norton, 2015). Se recogieron narraciones escritas y orales de una muestra de diez personas con distintas carreras académicas que habían residido en España durante un período de entre 11-40 meses para cursar estudios universitarios. En el momento de la recogida de datos estas personas vivían y trabajaban fuera de España. Se adaptó un análisis temático (Braun & Clarke, 2006, 2013) para identificar patrones comunes en las narraciones. Los resultados de este análisis muestran cuatro temas dominantes: (1) los ecos identitarios; (2) una experiencia transformadora; (3) mantenimiento o no mantenimiento de la L2 y (4) valores que perduran. El artículo da protagonismo al discurso de cinco de los participantes.
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