No description available.

No description available.

No description available.

Many research studies have been conducted in Arab countries to examine the difficulties that Arab students encounter in learning English writing. Unfortunately, not much of that scholarship deals with the challenges that these second language learners face when they pursue degrees abroad. Furthermore, the earlier studies failed to include the students' views about their difficulties, the causes, and possible solutions. In an effort to fill the gap in our understanding of the problems Arab students face in learning to write in English, this study explores the experiences and perceptions of a sampling of forty Arab students who chose to study in the United States. The students who participated provide firsthand information about their experiences in distinctly different learning and cultural environments; they provide information about their difficulties in improving their English writing skills and offer suggestions for all who teach writing to second language learners. The difficulties identified and described by these students provide a sketch of experiences and perceptions of Arab students who learn English as a Foreign Language (EFL) in their home countries and English as a Second Language (ESL) in the United States. The information provided as a result of this study will guide future research on second language learners, help develop pedagogies that will better serve the students, and expand our understanding of language acquisition as it pertains to an increasingly multilingual world.

This research focuses on second language acquisition during a study abroad experience and the developments or modifications in the personality of a language learner’s L1 and L2 discourses through the acquisition of a new expressive voice. Ideas concerning language and mind, cultural frameworks and sociocultural theory will be utilized to investigate how second language learners interpret their understandings of their expressive voice in their first language (American English) and in their second language (Castilian Spanish). This study draws from areas of investigation in applied linguistics, sociocultural theory, and linguistic anthropology, and has at its base the idea that specific grammatical and syntactical structures and the indexicality of a language make unique statements about the perceived realities of the speakers. With resurgence in the study of language and mind, this study brings together the above-mentioned fields, using discourse analysis in ethnographic research to look at how language learners in a study abroad experience learn and make assumptions about their language use.

Pragmatics in Arabic needs to be studied for two main reasons: first, the large cultural difference between American and Middle Eastern society; and second, the recent surge in demand for Arabic speakers in the US. Especially in regard to refusals, what is acceptable in America is rarely acceptable in Arabic speaking countries. There are very few occasions when refusal of an offering of food or other hospitalities is acceptable. Arab culture requires one to provide family members with anything they need, including money. If that is not possible it is required to find the means for what they need. American culture permits one to deny help in certain circumstances, but Arab culture does not. The inability of the US to meet its demand for Arabic speakers demonstrates the importance of research in Arabic pragmatics. Whenever the Middle East is at the forefront of world-wide media, the demand for Arabic instruction in the US increases. Since September 11th, the Middle East has been in the forefront of the news, causing an unprecedented rise in need for Arabic programs. Study abroad programs have the ability to help universities prepare their students both linguistically and culturally. This study examines Brigham Young University's Fall 2004 Egypt study abroad program and how its students were able to improve their knowledge of Arabic pragmatics.

Study abroad (SA) is typically thought to provide an excellent opportunity for second language acquisition, particularly through exposure to and application of the target language within the target culture. However, actual language gains vary greatly among SA participants and some may gain very little (Freed, 1995a). The purpose of the current study is to determine some specific linguistic gains made by 28 second language learners of Japanese studying for two semesters in Japan, and to determine possible correlates with these gains. Specifically, it addresses whether or not these SA students improve their grammatical proficiency, lexical proficiency, narrative ability, fluency, and pragmatics proficiency. It then explores how language learning aptitude, personality, language use, social networking, and initial ability correlate with those gains. To measure these gains and their correlates it uses the following instruments: the Elicited Imitation task, a picture story, the Pragmatics Self-Assessment, the Non-Word Repetition test, the NEO-Five Factor Inventory, the Language Contact Profile, and the Study Abroad Social Interaction Questionnaire. The results indicated that these SA students improved significantly in at least on measure of grammatical proficiency, lexical proficiency, narrative ability, fluency, and pragmatics proficiency. Initial ability and language use proved to correlate best with each area of linguistic gain; however, the other correlates were also related in certain areas. SA students should prepare to use their language and participate in social networks to best improve their linguistic abilities.

This study investigated the social networks developed by language learners and their relationship with perceived changes in the learners' fluency in the context of an intensive English as a second language (ESL) program. Using data from the Study Abroad Social Interaction Questionnaire (SASIQ) to determine SN development and native speaker ratings to determine perceived fluency, a simple linear regression to test the relationship between social network variables and fluency gain, as well as a hierarchical regression measuring (a) the combined effect of variables previously found to be significant in fluency gain, and (b) the additional joint effect of the remaining social network variables. We found that participants were successful in developing complex social networks, and that their oral fluency did increase significantly in connection with their social networks. Density (the average number of people listed in a social group) was the most important factor when only social network variables were considered. In the hierarchical regression, initial proficiency level and the percentage of native English speakers in the network were the most significant of the established variables in the first step, and overall size and density were the most important of the added social network variables in the second step.

No description available.

No description available.