Cover not available

In:Methods in Study Abroad Research: Past, present, and future
Edited by Carmen Pérez-Vidal and Cristina Sanz
[Research Methods in Applied Linguistics 4] 2023
► pp. 209–238

Get fulltext from our e-platform
JBE logo with link
PDF logo with download linkDownload Book PDF
EPUB logo with download linkDownload Book EPUB
authorization required

Chapter 9
Complexity, fluency and accuracy in study abroad research

 | California Polytechnic State University
 | Cedarville University
Published online: 3 February 2023
DOI logo with link
https://doi.org/10.1075/rmal.4.09mar
Abstract
This chapter offers a critical overview of study abroad research that examines complexity and accuracy in speaking and writing as well as written fluency. We discuss the relevant literature in terms of methodologies used, variables studied, operationalization of complexity, accuracy, and written fluency, and main results obtained. Gaps found in the literature are discussed, as well as limitations and areas for methodological improvements. In addition, the chapter provides recommendations for future research incorporating theoretical and methodological trends in study abroad, including the role of affective factors among minoritized students such as heritage language learners.
Article outline
  • Introduction
  • Definitions and measures of complexity, accuracy, and written fluency in SA
    • Complexity
    • Syntactic complexity
    • Lexical complexity
    • Accuracy
    • Written fluency
  • Overview of complexity in SA research
    • Oral syntactic and lexical complexity
    • Written syntactic and lexical complexity
  • Overview of accuracy in SA research
    • Oral accuracy
    • Written accuracy
  • Overview of written fluency in SA research
  • Limitations of CAF studies in SA
  • Future CAF research in SA
  • Discussion of ethical issues
  • Concluding remarks
  • References
References (46)
References
Anya, U. (2016). Racialized identities in second language learning: Speaking blackness in Brazil. Routledge. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Edmonds, A., Gudmestad, A., & Metzger, T. (2020). A longitudinal study of grammatical gender marking in French as an additional language. Applied Linguistics, 41(5), 733–755. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Foster, P., & Skehan, P. (1996). The influence of planning and task type on second language performance. Studies in Second Language Acquisition, 18(3), 299–323. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Foster, P., Tonkyn, A., & Wigglesworth, G. (2000). Measuring spoken language: A unit for all reasons. Applied linguistics, 21(3), 354–375. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Freed, B. F., So, S., & Lazar, N. A. (2003). Language learning abroad: How do gains in written fluency compare with gains in oral fluency in French as a second language? ADFL Bulletin, 34(3), 34–40. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Godfrey, L., Treacy, C., & Tarone, E. (2014). Change in French second language writing in study abroad and domestic contexts. Foreign Language Annals, 47(1), 48–65. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Housen, A., & Kuiken, F. (2009). Complexity, accuracy, and fluency in second language acquisition. Applied Linguistics, 30(4), 461–473. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Isabelli-García, C. (2006). Study abroad social networks, motivation and attitudes: Implications for second language acquisition. In M. DuFon & E. Churchill (Eds.), Language learners in study abroad contexts (pp. 231–258). Multilingual Matters. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Juan-Garau, M. (2014). Oral accuracy growth after formal instruction and study abroad. In C. Pérez-Vidal (Ed.), Language acquisition in study abroad and formal instruction contexts (pp. 87–111). John Benjamins. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Kyle, K., & Crossley, S. A. (2018). Measuring syntactic complexity in L2 writing using fine-grained clausal and phrasal indices. The Modern Language Journal, 102(2), 333–349. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Lennon, P. (1990). Investigating fluency in EFL: A quantitative approach. Language Learning, 40(3), 387–417. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Leonard, K. R., & Shea, C. E. (2017). L2 speaking development during study abroad: Fluency, accuracy, complexity, and underlying cognitive factors. The Modern Language Journal, 101(1), 179–193. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Llanes, À., & Muñoz, C. (2013). Age effects in a study abroad context: Children and adults studying abroad and at home. Language Learning, 63(1), 63–90. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Long, A. Y., & Solon, M. (2021). The impact of a short-term stay abroad on L2 Spanish syntactic complexity development in narratives. Study Abroad Research in Second Language Acquisition and International Education, 6(1), 163–188. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Lord, G. (2009). Second-language awareness and development during study abroad: A case study. Hispania, 92(1), 127–141. [URL]
Marijuan, S., & Sanz, C. (2017). Technology-assisted L2 research in immersive contexts abroad. System, 71, 22–34. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
(2018). Expanding boundaries: Current and new directions in study abroad research and practice. Foreign Language Annals, 51(1), 185–204. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Marqués-Pascual, L. (2021). The impact of study abroad on Spanish heritage learners’ writing development. In R. Pozzi, T. Quan, & C. Escalante (Eds.), Heritage speakers of Spanish in study abroad (pp. 199–217). Routledge. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
McManus, K., Mitchell, R., & Tracy-Ventura, N. (2021). A longitudinal study of advanced learners’ linguistic development before, during, and after study abroad. Applied Linguistics, 42(1), 136–163. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Mora, J. C., & Valls-Ferrer, M. (2012). Oral fluency, accuracy, and complexity in formal instruction and study abroad learning contexts. TESOL Quarterly, 46(4), 610–641. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Norris, J. M., & Ortega, L. (2009). Towards an organic approach to investigating CAF in instructed SLA: The case of complexity. Applied Linguistics, 30(4), 555–578. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Ortega, L. (2003). Syntactic complexity measures and their relationship to L2 proficiency: A research synthesis of college-level L2 writing. Applied Linguistics, 24(4), 492–518. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
(2012). Epistemological diversity and moral ends of research in instructed SLA. Language Teaching Research, 16(2), 206–226. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
(2013). SLA for the 21st century: Disciplinary progress, transdisciplinary relevance, and the bi/multilingual turn. Language Learning, 63, 1–24. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Pérez-Vidal, C., & Barquin, E. (2014). Comparing progress in academic writing after formal instruction and study abroad. In C. Pérez-Vidal (Ed.), Language acquisition in study abroad and formal instruction contexts (pp. 217–234). John Benjamins. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Pérez-Vidal, C., & Juan-Garau, M. (2009). The effect of study abroad (SA) on written performance. Eurosla Yearbook, 9(1), 269–295. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
(2011). The effect of context and input conditions on oral and written development: A study abroad perspective. International Review of Applied Linguistics in Language Teaching, 49(2), 157–185. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Pérez-Vidal, C., Juan-Garau, M., Mora, J. C., & Valls-Ferrer, M. (2012). Oral and written development in formal instruction and study abroad: Differential effects of learning context. In C. Pérez-Vidal, (Ed.), Intensive exposure experiences in second language learning (pp. 65, 213). Multilingual Matters. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Quan, T. (2021). Study abroad as a transformative translanguaging space for Spanish heritage speakers. In W. Diao & E. Trentman (Eds.), Language learning in study abroad: The multilingual turn (pp. 170–189). Multilingual Matters. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Révész, A., Michel, M., & Lee, M. (2017). Investigating IELTS Academic Writing Task 2: Relationships between cognitive writing processes, text quality, and working memory. IELTS Research Reports Online Series, 2201–2982.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Robinson, P. (2003). The Cognition Hypothesis, task design and adult task-based language learning. Second Language Studies, 21(2), 45–107.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Sanz, C. (2014). Contributions of study abroad research to our understanding of SLA processes and outcomes: The SALA Project, an appraisal. In C. Pérez–Vidal (Ed.), Language acquisition in study abroad and formal instruction contexts (pp. 1–14). John Benjamins. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
(2021). Afterword: Charting a path forward for Spanish heritage speakers in study abroad. In R. Pozzi, T. Quan, & C. Escalante (Eds.), Heritage speakers of Spanish in study abroad (pp. 276–284). Routledge. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Sasaki, M. (2004). A multiple-data analysis of the 3.5-Year development of EFL student writers. Language Learning, 54(3), 525–582. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
(2007). Effects of study-abroad experiences on EFL writers: A multiple-data analysis. The Modern Language Journal, 91(4), 602–620. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Serrano, R., Llanes, À., & Tragant, E. (2011). Analyzing the effect of context of second language learning: Domestic intensive and semi-intensive courses vs. study abroad in Europe. System, 39, 133–143. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Serrano, R., Tragant, E., & Llanes, À. (2012). A longitudinal analysis of the effects of one year abroad. Canadian Modern Language Review, 68(2), 138–163. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Skehan, P. (2009). Modelling second language performance: Integrating complexity, accuracy, fluency, and lexis. Applied Linguistics, 30(4), 510–532. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Subtirelu, N. C. (2017). Raciolinguistic ideology and Spanish-English bilingualism on the US labor market: An analysis of online job advertisements. Language in Society, 46(4), 477–505. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Sue, S. (1999). Science, ethnicity, and bias: Where have we gone wrong? American Psychologist, 54(12), 1070–1077. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Vallejos, C. (2020). Fluency, working memory and second language proficiency in multicompetent writers (Unpublished doctoral dissertation). Georgetown University.
Wolfe-Quintero, K., Inagaki, S., & Kim, H. Y. (1998). Second language development in writing: Measures of fluency, accuracy and complexity. University of Hawai’i Press.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Zaytseva, V., Miralpeix, I., & Pérez-Vidal, C. (2019). ESL written development at home and abroad: Taking a closer look at vocabulary. International Journal of Bilingual Education and Bilingualism, 25(1), 210–225. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Cited by (2)

Cited by two other publications

Devlin, Anne Marie, Annarita Magliacane & Michał B. Paradowski
2024. Social Aspects in Language Learning: New Perspectives from Study‐Abroad Research. Language Learning 74:S2 ► pp. 5 ff. DOI logo
Kim, Kyungmin, Jang Ho Lee & Hansol Lee
2024. Systematic review synthesising the effects of study abroad experience on the development of language fluency. Oxford Review of Education ► pp. 1 ff. DOI logo

This list is based on CrossRef data as of 30 november 2025. Please note that it may not be complete. Sources presented here have been supplied by the respective publishers. Any errors therein should be reported to them.

Mobile Menu Logo with link to supplementary files background Layer 1 prag Twitter_Logo_Blue