2025/08/21 by Àngels Llanes · 1 voice
Arts and Humanities · Social Sciences · #EFL/ESL Teaching and Learning #Multilingual Education and Policy #Second Language Learning and Teaching
paper · doi:10.1016/j.system.2025.103819
openalex publication_date 2025/08/21 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/05/06
Study Abroad (SA) experiences in multilingual settings have become very popular, because they provide a rich learning environment: SA participants use English as a Lingua Franca and they can learn the local language/s. However, the little SA research that has examined Additional Language (AL) acquisition in a multilingual setting has mostly focused on tracking the development of one language. Hence, the present study seeks to fill this gap by reporting the development in English, Spanish and Catalan (ALs) of 26 international students participating in a semester-long SA experience in a Catalan university. Additionally, AL contact, intentionality and beliefs were also explored. Participants were asked to describe a picture in English, Spanish and Catalan, from which the typical Complexity, Accuracy and Fluency measures were obtained for each of the languages (pre- and post-test). Participants were also interviewed in the post-test to obtain information about language use and learners' beliefs. Results show that a) participants significantly improved several measures in Spanish and one in English, b) Two ALs can be developed simultaneously, c) AL contact and intention to learn Spanish did not play a major role, and c) AL use varied from student to student.