Generation Z goes abroad: A mosaic approach to L2 program evaluation

Date

2023-10-01

Contributor

Advisor

Department

Instructor

Depositor

Speaker

Researcher

Consultant

Interviewer

Narrator

Transcriber

Annotator

Journal Title

Journal ISSN

Volume Title

Publisher

University of Hawaii National Foreign Language Resource Center
(co-sponsored by American Association of University of Supervisors and Coordinators; Center for Advanced Research on Language Acquisition; Center for Educational Resources in Culture, Language, and Literacy; Second Language Teaching and Resource Center)

Volume

4

Number/Issue

1

Starting Page

67

Ending Page

87

Alternative Title

Abstract

Intent on developing methods of evaluation of L2 study abroad (SA) programs relevant for the 21st century, this study centered on sixteen Generation Z undergraduates affiliated with two U.S. universities and enrolled in the same Parisian program. To mitigate previous methodological issues, the study aimed to provide a big picture evaluation of the selected program with a purposeful focus on variables characteristic of Gen Zers. To do so, it adopted an innovative mosaic approach entailing the simultaneous collection and comparison of a multiplicity of data across different domains of interest. The study shows how pre-existing relationships between oral quality, cultural readiness, psychosocial measures attributed to Gen Z, phone affinity and usage, and demographic/academic characteristics evolved as outcomes of SA. It confirms the complex mediation involved in oral and cross-cultural growth abroad by notably unveiling a mechanism of inertia at play in language and cultural development linked to academic choices made before but set in motion by SA. The study also establishes how students’ pre-existing anxiety decreased congruently with fear of missing out and shaped their SA experiences. Finally, it demonstrates how the meaning attached to the role of smartphones morphed into a more positive relationship linked to emotional regulation and productivity.

Description

Keywords

proficiency, intelligibility, smartphone, anxiety, intercultural competence

Citation

Mroz, A., & Gorham, J. (2023). Generation Z goes abroad: A mosaic approach to L2 program evaluation. Second Language Research & Practice, 4(1), 67–87. https://hdl.handle.net/10125/69879

Extent

Format

Geographic Location

Time Period

Related To

Related To (URI)

Table of Contents

Rights

Rights Holder

Local Contexts

Email libraryada-l@lists.hawaii.edu if you need this content in ADA-compliant format.