Study Abroad and Second Language Use: Constructing the Self

200 Pages·2005·0.61 MB·English

by  Valerie A. Pellegrino Aveni

StudyAbroadandSecondLanguageUse
Languageplaysanessentialroleinhowweportrayourpersonalities.Through
socialinteraction,othersdevelopapictureofusbasedonourlinguisticcues.
However,whenweinteractinaforeignlanguageandinanewcountry,limita-
tionsinlinguisticandculturalknowledgecanmakeself-presentationamore
difficult task. This book explores the problems faced by language students
embarking on “study-abroad” programs, spending time in a foreign coun-
try, and having to interact – and express their personalities – in a second
language. Drawing on her extensive work with students, Valerie Pellegrino
Aveniexploresthefactorsthatcomplicateself-presentationandthestrategies
students use for overcoming these, looking in particular at issues of anxi-
ety,control,age,gender,risk-taking,andself-esteem.Offeringrichinsights
intothestudy-abroadexperience,thisbookwillbeaninvaluableresourcefor
professionals in second language acquisition and for teachers and students
preparingforstudyabroad.
valerie a. pellegrino aveni is the former Director of the Russian
Language Program and Graduate Teaching Associate Coordinator in the
Department of Slavic and East European Languages and Literatures, Ohio
StateUniversity,wheresheiscurrentlyVisitingAssistantProfessor.Sheisa
specialistinsecondlanguageacquisitionandforeignlanguagepedagogyand
hasspenttwelveyearsstudying,working,andleadingstudy-abroadprograms
forhighschoolandcollegestudents.InadditiontoStudyAbroadandSecond
LanguageUse,sheiscurrentlydevelopingaseriesofmultilingualstorybooks
forchildrenagedonetofive.
Study Abroad and Second
Language Use
Constructing the Self
ValerieA.PellegrinoAveni
publishedbythepresssyndicateoftheuniversityofcambridge
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(cid:1)C ValerieA.PellegrinoAveni2005
Thisbookisincopyright.Subjecttostatutoryexception
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noreproductionofanypartmaytakeplacewithout
thewrittenpermissionofCambridgeUniversityPress.
Firstpublished2005
PrintedintheUnitedKingdomattheUniversityPress,Cambridge
TypefaceTimes10/12pt. SystemLATEX2ε [tb]
AcataloguerecordforthisbookisavailablefromtheBritishLibrary
LibraryofCongressCataloguinginPublicationdata
PellegrinoAveni,ValerieA.
Studyabroadandsecondlanguageuse:constructingtheself/ValerieA.
PellegrinoAveni.
p. cm.
Includesbibliographicalreferencesandindex.
ISBN0521827663–ISBN0521534941(pb.)
1.Languageandlanguages–Studyandteaching. 2.Self-presentation.
3.Foreignstudy. I.Title.
P53.P39 2004
418(cid:2).0071–dc22 2004049685
ISBN0521827663hardback
ISBN0521534941paperback
ThepublisherhasuseditsbestendeavourstoensurethattheURLsforexternal
websitesreferredtointhisbookarecorrectandactiveatthetimeofgoingtopress.
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ForCarl,Lucy,andEamon,
andinmemoryofMichelle.
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Contents
Acknowledgments page ix
Noteontextconventions x
Abbreviations xi
Introduction 1
1 Languageuseinasocialcontext 8
1.1 Languageandself 11
1.2 Communicativegoals 25
2 Thesocialdance:secondlanguageuseandthe
constructionofself 34
2.1 Constructingtheself:socialhierarchyandsocialdistance 36
2.2 Socialhierarchy 38
2.3 Socialdistance 46
3 Learnersandtheirenvironment:factorsaffecting
self-construction 54
3.1 Social-environmentalcues 56
3.2 Learner-internalcues 86
3.3 Thewholepicture:interactivityofcues 107
4 Comingintoourown:theconvergenceofrealselfand
idealself 113
4.1 Balancinglearner-internalcuesandsocial-environmentalstimuli 114
4.2 Progressivedevelopmentofinternalsecurity 124
Conclusion:Theselfinthesecondlanguage:implications
andnextsteps 144
Appendix1 Studycontextandresearchmethodology 151
vii
viii Contents
Appendix2 ACTRstudy-abroadprogramparticipants:
1995–1996demographicprofile 158
Appendix3 Participantprofiles 159
References 177
Index 185
Acknowledgments
This study was supported by the Research Scholar Program through the
AmericanCouncilofTeachersofRussian(ACTR),fundedbytheUnitedStates
InformationAgency,andbytheMellonScholarProgramattheNationalForeign
LanguageCenter.Iwishtoexpressdeepgratitudetotheseinstitutionsfortheir
support,withoutwhichthisstudywouldnothavebeenpossible.Amostimpor-
tantthankyoutothemanystudentswhoparticipatedinthisstudyandtoACTR’s
residentdirectorsandstaffmembers,whosetirelesshelpwasinvaluableinthe
data-collectionprocess.IwouldliketothankthestaffattheNationalForeign
LanguageCenter,whoprovidedthetechnicalandmoralsupportthroughoutthe
data-analysisphase.IalsothankthefacultyandstudentsoftheDepartmentof
RussianatBrynMawrCollegeandtheDepartmentofSlavicandEastEuropean
LanguagesandLiteraturesattheOhioStateUniversityfortheirendlesssup-
portandvaluableinsightsandformakingmyworkpossible.ThankstoDianna
Murphey and Audra Starcheus for their work transcribing and formatting, to
JenniferBownforheradministrativesupport,andtoLauriePauleforherassis-
tanceinthepreparationofthefinalmanuscript.ProfessorsDianeBirckbichler
and Daniel Collins also provided invaluable feedback and support, for which
Iammostgrateful.IgivespecialthankstoProfessorsRichardD.Brechtand
DanE.Davidsonfortheirever-readyencouragement,help,wisdom,patience,
andtrust.Mostimportantly,Iwishtothankthosewhostuckaroundandwere
alwaystherewhenIneededthem,evenattimesofmanyexclamationpoints:
myfamilyandespeciallyCarl,whogavemorethanhisshare.
ix
Note on text conventions
RussianwordsthatwerewritteninCyrillicintheoriginaldataaretransliterated
accordingtotheUSBoardonGeographicNamesandaremarkedastransliter-
atedbyitalics.Russianwordsarealsotranslatedinparenthesesfollowingthe
word.
x