Using the LANG-TRACK-APP to explore inter-individual differences in language exposure and use in study abroad

Description

Current theories commonly conceptualise second language acquisition (SLA) as a gradual process which involves making inferences from language samples to which learners are exposed in the classroom and beyond (Ellis, 2009). Therefore, the role of target language exposure and use (TL use) in learning is a central issue for SLA researchers. Due to its highly individualized and fragmented nature, TL use remains difficult to investigate, especially in informal contexts (e.g., during study abroad or in the context of migration). Prior research has primarily relied on summative recall questionnaires, which have been criticised for being too broad-strokes and severely limited in the aspects of TL use which they capture. More specifically, these methods have focused primarily on measuring the frequency and quantity of TL use, rather than more qualitative aspects such as the context in which TL use occurs, with whom, and the extent to which learners concentrate on, understand, or enjoy the language they encounter (Briggs Baffoe-Djan and Zhou, 2020).



To aid researchers in gathering richer data on various aspects of TL use, we have developed the LANG-TRACK-APP, a smartphone application for collecting survey responses from research participants and sending push notifications when new surveys are assigned (Arndt et al., 2021). We will present a selection of findings from the first LANG-TRACK-APP study, which investigated TL use during study abroad. The participants were 25 newly arrived international students at Lund University and 19 Swedish students on Erasmus exchange in various European countries. During three week-long periods, spaced out evenly across three months, the participants were prompted via the LANG-TRACK-APP to complete brief self-report surveys multiple times per day. They reported the activities in which they had been engaged prior to receiving each survey and for how long; who, if anyone, they were with; and whether and how they had been using different languages (the language of the host country, English, their native language, or another language).



Participants’ practices were highly individualised in terms of the range of activities in which they engaged and the languages they used during their study abroad sojourn. Some relied primarily on English for their daily communication and never reported using the language of the host country, whereas others were up to 80 times as likely to use the community language than English. In our presentation, we will discuss the similarities and differences in the usage patterns of selected ‘high’ and ‘low TL users’, in terms of the activities in which they engaged, the speakers with whom they interacted, their subjective language use experiences, and the ways in which these factors changed over the course of their stay. This serves to illustrate the richness of the data that can be collected with the LANG-TRACK-APP, which offers insight into not just the quantitative but also qualitative aspects of learners’ everyday use of and exposure to different languages, thus ultimately contributing to our understanding of individual differences in language acquisition.

Period	2022 Jan 13
Event title	The First LAMiNATE Conference
Event type	Conference
Location	Lund, SwedenShow on map
Degree of Recognition	International