Author(s): Wright C, Leung AHC, Lee CW
Abstract: The effects for second language (L2) learners of a year abroad (YA) are typically held to favour improvements in L2 oral fluency over grammatical development (Collentine and Freed 2004). It is not yet known how far these effects are reliably testable in L2 Chinese, which lacks robust models of oral or grammatical proficiency (Zhang 2005). This exploratory study tracked eleven third-year L2 Chinese undergraduate students at a UK university to test development of oral and grammatical proficiency, measured across a battery of oral and written tasks repeated before and after YA in China. The results were mixed with some improvements but not consistently or significantly across all measures. Total mean oral proficiency scores, measured across all tasks for accuracy and fluency, improved (at significance, p=.05), as did speech rate (p<.05). Fluency ratings alone did not improve significantly. Writing measures showed mixed results; two short tasks (dialogue and letter) decreased in accuracy and length; the third writing task (short essay) significantly improved in length (p<.05), and in a specific measure to test increased complex grammar (use of de-relative clause morphemes, p<.001). A sub-group (n=7) provided quantitative data on average L2 Chinese use at different times during YA, showing marked individual differences, though these differences had no statistical effect on test scores after YA. This study suggests that quantitative tests for YA effects on language proficiency, especially fluency, can yield inconsistent results. Further research combining linguistic and qualitative contextual data should clarify the interconnecting factors affecting L2 language development during YA (Regan et al. 2009), especially for L2 Chinese.
Notes: This exploratory study is highly original with no other study, to my knowledge, written on L2 Chinese longitudinal improvement over a Year Abroad within a formal SLA research paradigm. Study generalisability is limited, due to convenience sampling used (existing students, curricula and examination procedures), but the study shows interesting patterns of results of change in language proficiency and language use over time. As with other studies of MFL Study Abroad, the clearest improvement seems to be in ease of language use (faster speech rate, longer written output) rather than on specific measures of grammatical accuracy or complexity. Students' own reports of levels of engagement with interactional opportunities during the YA showed great variability but this was not reflected in the language test scores. This study, albeit small scale and exploratory, highlights novel and valuable data about the student abroad experience in a little-explored context, and will act as the pilot for a large research council bid for a larger scale tracking project in the future.
Keywords: L2 Chinese, Year Abroad, grammatical and fluency development
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Dr Clare Wright
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