In what field is your proposed study

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Motivation and Lived Experience in an English
Language Study Abroad Program Implications for
Second Language Acquisition
Mei Ling Sutherland School of Cultural and
Language Studies in Education Queensland
University of Technology mlc1407b_at_yahoo.com
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Presentation Outline

• Background
• Research Interest
• Theoretical Model
• Research Design
• Some of the findings
• Two contrastive cases
• Conclusion

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Research in the SA Context

• Research in the SA from American and Europe
  context, not much emphasis on ELT teacher
  training
• Research in SA focused on 4 areas
• 1. Measuring of language gains
• (Brecht, Davidson and ginsberg, 1995)
• 2. Comparative studies of language between
  
• abroad and at home (Lafford, 1995 Freed
  1995 Freed, So and
• Lazar 1999)
• 3. Acquisition of sociolinguistic
  competence (Marriott, Siegal and
• Regun 1995 Murdoch and Adamson 2001)
• 4. Investigate on learners perspective and
• cultural awareness (Brecht and Robinson
  1995, Polyani 1995,
• Miller and Ginsberg 1995, Evans et al
  2001)

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Research Interest

• Key element of investigation is the quality of
  experience
• Csikszentmihalyi (1990, 1996), success comes
  through engagement with interactions in the TL
• Falvey (1998), little genuine exposure to
  English outside of the EFL classroom

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General Components in Study Abroad Programs
Situational Influence
Free Time
Home-stay
Exposure to Australian educational system
English Enhancement
Institutional based program
Teaching Methodology
Personal element
Personal
Language Acquisition
Motivation
Characteristic Background
Components on English Language Enhancement
ELT Teacher Training Program at Higher
Institutions in Hong Kong
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• Intention of the research
• Pre-service teachers experience in SA
• perceptions of the effectiveness of the SA

• Research questions Self-report data on
• To what extent do learners see a SA program has
  impact on their motivation?
• How do learners see their communication
  competence developing overtime as a result of the
  program?
• How do home-stay(HS) family perceive themselves
  as a home-stay provider and how do they perceive
  learners progression in their learning?

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Theoretical Concept
PRESAGE
PROCESS
PRODUCT
 
Personal Factors   Prior knowledge Ability Motives

Learning Outcomes   Quantitative
measures Qualitative learning experience,
motivation, higher order thinking, personal
growth and sense of community
Learning Focused   Approaches in learning
Situational Factors   Subject area Teaching
method Course structure Time on task
Biggss 3P Model of Learning and Teaching
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Research Participants

• BEd students H.K.U.
• End of 2nd year of study
• Study abroad experience only in Australia

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Research Design and Procedure
PRE ACTUAL POST
MOTIVATIONAL INTENSITY QUESTIONNAIRE (MIQ)
JOURNAL ENTRIES
LEARNING BIOGRAPHY
FOCUS GROUP STUDY THREE MONTHS AFTER RETURN
SEMI-STRUCTURED INTERVIEW including Homestay
family
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Motivational Intensity Questionnaire (MIQ)
(Gardners 1985 research)

• Desire to learn English Eleven multiple choice
  items (max. score 33) in this scale with a high
  score expressing a strong desire to learn
  English.

• Motivational Intensity designed to measure the
  intensity of a students motivation to learn
  English in terms of work done for classroom
  assignments, future plans to make use of and
  study the language etc. Measure consists of 9 mc
  items. A high score represents a students self
  report of a high degree of effort being spent in
  acquiring the language.

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Findings and Discussions
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(No Transcript)
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Two Contrastive Cases
Motivational Intensity
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Desire to Learn English
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Result from Qualitative Measures
Personal Biography Comparison
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Factors Analysis on P1 and P2Personal Factors
Participant One
be optimistic towards what coming next all the
time.
HS family a confident, out spoken, patient,
willing to offer help and a worldly person, and
she speaks English very well.
Participant two
I worry about appropriacy of my question to HS
family. I have abundant vocabulary but dont
know how to use them
HS familypolite, well-spoken, well-mannered
person and quieter than the other students we
have met.
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Situational Factors
P1 The relationship with the HS family have
built up a lot of chance for me to speak English.
So in a sense it is a good opportunity for me to
practice more when I compare to the environment
in Hong Kong.
In Hong Kong, at University we expect the same
level of language and the only input of
vocabulary is through text books. When you come
to a new environment, like the immersion in the
SA, your horizon tends to broaden because it is
stimulating.
HS family
says the most positive outcome for me to provide
the Homestay experience for the student is the
work in the different cultures. It is just the
new difference. Thats what I get out of it.
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Participant two
I dont think I have many opportunities to use
English here, in which I mean speaking in
English. I will use English when I return home.
However, my HS family are quite busy. Apart from
work they also have part-time study. So I dont
want to bother them as they were quite exhausted
when they returned home.
HS family Well, I guess I just try to make him
as part of the family. I think, the homestay
experience has been part of the different
families. It is an important part of students
learning. Thats how you really learn, how other
people live isnt it? See what they eat when
they get up, what they do each day. Thats got
to be a pretty amazing experience.
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Approaches in Learning
Participant One
at the beginning of the immersion, I felt that
it is my responsibility not to allow the
conversation to stop. I have tried to get along
with the HS family and I felt at ease to
communicate or initiate conversation with HS.
In Australia all I have to focus on is the
program and try to get along well with the HS
family. Comparatively there is more interaction
within a household than I have had in H.K.
When I communicate with my HS family, I
deliberately make some silly topic. It works at
least you are talking something and you are happy
not to let time to slip away.
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all my roommates shouted bad words in Cantonese
at him. And he replied oops! I am the only
person who had spoken English in that situation.
I went down to the counter and voiced about this
in the morning. Opportunity to speak English is
everywhere. It is a matter of your choice. Even
though I went out with my Cantonese-speaking
group. If you are really determined to use
English you will still be able to find the chance
to practice it.
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so I think just the study abroad program by
itself is not enough. You have to get yourself
outside the classroom environment. Explore more
and you may encounter some experience that you
can use in your language.   In the immersion
program, like you were placed in a different
environment, you met different people, you have
stimulation and then you experience more, that is
practice of learning the second language.
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Learning approachesparticipant two
we initiated conversation with him more than he
did. We tried to involve him in all
conversation and sometimes I dont know whether,
may be he doesnt understand or doesnt know, and
he doesnt keep it going. His English is very
good but he tends to look like he really thinks
about what he is trying to say. He probably
just doesnt initiate conversation with us. I
think he could be more involved and I feel he
does spend a lot of time in his room.
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you know something exciting that he is doing and
I think he will come home and tell us. but I
just dont think that he feels as comfortable as
I would like. Just because he doesnt, um, give
us things freely. I dont think he is making
the best use of this time. I think he needs to
open up himself.
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P1I am glad that my HS family are more friends
than parents to me. Seriously, I never had this
kind of conversation with my biological parents.
I enjoyed my time with my HS parents and it is
lots of fun.
P1 HS We dont talk about anything with
substance. We dont talk seriously about
anything. I wouldnt say I know her a lot better
compared from the 1st week to the seven weeks
now.
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P1 HSwe actually see less of her when time goes
on I suspect. The thing is disappointing about
(sigh .) the homestay that I found. This is
just my personal opinion. If I had the chance to
go to a Homestay in another country. I tried to
stay with people of that culture to learn more.
However I found that this would not occur with
these students. They still were very young to
understand that. What they do is they will
conglomerate together because they all know each
other from school.
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Three months after the study abroad

• Participant one

P1 Although I did not put much extra effort
into the learning. The immersion program raised
my awareness. I am aware that I have to put in
extra effort but I did not put in any action yet.
Maybe I need to have a bit more time.

• Participant two

P2 I do not mind whether I have to speak to my
homestay family a lot. I think what is important
is that they really want to talk with me because
to give me the opportunity to use English. I
dont have the opportunities to interact with
local Australian or Australian students and this
is what I missed the most in the study abroad
program.
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Conclusion
Participants perception of the learning
environment appears to influence their behaviour.
This perception seems to be influenced by
individual differences such as personal
characteristics, openness, flexibility and
socializing skills in an immersion context.