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Comparing second language development in three learning contexts: study abroad, summer camp and intensive EFL classes

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Màster de Lingüística Aplicada i Adquisició de Llengües en Contextos Multilingües, Departament de Filologia Anglesa i Alemanya, Universitat de Barcelona, Any: 2012, Supervisor: Dr. Raquel Serrano Serrano

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The present study aimed to examine which of the following three learning
contexts (Study Abroad, Summer Camp “at home” and Intensive English as a
Foreign Language Classes) had the most favorable impact on second language
(L2) development. The participants were 109 Catalan-Spanish bilingual learners
of English (mean age = 12.91). L2 development was assessed through an elicited
imitation task performed at the beginning and at the end of the programs (there
were 18 days in between the two testing points in the three contexts). The task
consisted of 23 simple English sentences, three of which were used to make the
students familiar with the procedure. The sentences ranged between four and eight
words in length and were semantically adapted to 10- to 17-year-old learners of
English. As there were statistically significant differences between the three
groups of participants at the pretest, instead of comparing the three posttests
scores we compared the gains each group made. The main finding was that the
Summer Camp “at home” context was the context where the participants made the
greatest gains. However, these results have to be interpreted carefully as it was in
this context where participants obtained the lowest scores at the pretest, which left
them more room for improvement.

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Màster Oficial - Lingüística Aplicada i Adquisició de Llengües en Contextos Multilingües

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Comparing second language development in three learning contexts: study abroad, summer camp and intensive EFL classes