A Language Contact Profile of International Students at SU Rebecca Smith 4/28/14

Background

�  Studies have shown that the ways language learners who are studying abroad use their target language outside of the classroom can impact their language gains ◦  (Baker-Smemoe, et al. 2012; Dewey, et al.,

2013)

� How are international students at SU using English outside of the classroom?

Out-of-class TL use �  Factors that may affect the quantity and

quality of out-of-class TL use include: ◦  language ability ◦  cultural and linguistic backgrounds ◦  social networks (intensity, dispersion, size) ◦ motivation ◦  general interests / extracurricular involvement ◦  living arrangements ◦  gender, age, and personality ◦  time in the US

Language Contact Profile �  Survey distributed to international students

enrolled in undergraduate ENL courses ◦  ENL 201, 202, 203, 207, 211, 213

�  Survey items based on: ◦  Background information �  age, gender, nationality, language background, living

arrangements, English NS friends, extracurricular involvement

◦  Language use information (L1 and L2) �  speaking, listening, reading, writing – for different tasks �  teachers, friends, classmates, strangers

Examples

Examples

Sample �  30 Respondents

(28 completed entire survey)

�  Gender ◦  15 male, 15 female

�  Nationality ◦  22 Chinese ◦  3 Saudi Arabian ◦  2 Korean ◦  1 Puerto Rican ◦  1 Russian ◦  1 Uzbekistani

* 8 students are enrolled in ENL 203 and another course

Course Number of Students

ENL 201 2

ENL 202 19

ENL 203* 9

ENL 207 4

ENL 211 3

ENL 213 1

Average Language Usage

�  On average, students reported speaking in English outside of class 4.3 days per week and 1.6 hours on those days.

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Out-of-class English speaking

Gender and Average English Usage �  There was a difference in gender, with females reporting more out-

of-class English speaking than males. (14 females and 14 males)

�  On average, females report an average of 4.9 days per week, while males report 3.6. �  93% of females report using English 3+ days per week, compared with 64% of males �  43% of females reported they use English outside of class every day, as opposed to

only 21% of males

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Gender vs. English Use

Female

Male

Nationality and English Usage �  There was also a difference based on nationality

(with 21 Chinese learners vs. 7 of other nationalities who completed the survey)

�  Chinese learners reported an average of 3.8 days of English usage, compared with 5.6 for other nationalities

�  57% of other nationalities report using English every day, compared with 24% of Chinese learners

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Nationality vs. English Use

Other

Chinese

Extracurriculars �  On average, learners who participate in extracurricular activities on

a regular basis report higher levels of English speaking.

Number of learners Average days per week

Never participate in extracurricular activities 14 3.8

Participate occasionally (less than once a week) 8 4.4

Participate often (once a week or more) 6 5.7

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Extracurricular Involvement vs. Speaking

Often

Occasionally

Never

Questions?

References �  Baker-Smemoe, W., Cundick, D. K., Evans, N., Henrichsen, L., Dewey,

D. P. (2012). Relationship between reported out-of-class English use and proficiency gains in English. Applied Language Learning 22(1-2): p. 21-45.

�  Dewey, D. P., Ring, S., Gardner, D., & Belnap, R. K. (2013). Social network formation and development during study abroad in the Middle East. System 41(2): 269-282.