Browsing by Subject "Study Abroad"
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Item Acquiring Variable L2 Spanish Intonation in a Study Abroad Context(2013-06) Trimble, JohnThis dissertation identifies and describes some of the major ways second language (L2) Spanish intonation changes over time in a study abroad context. It focuses on the intonation of two specific utterance types: broad focus declaratives and absolute interrogatives. Additionally, it explores a few important factors in how L2 intonation changes over time, namely: intonational characteristics of learners' first and second languages, task style/formality, and interaction with native Spanish speakers. The methodology employed combines traditional methodological approaches of intonational phonology and second language acquisition to analyze the data of nine English speaking learners of L2 Spanish who spent a semester in the Andes of Venezuela, a region known for its distinct absolute interrogative intonation. The results indicated that the L2 Spanish intonation of most learners was considerably different at the end of the semester abroad. Seven of nine learners adopted a new most frequent intonational pattern for broad focus declaratives. One learner also adopted a new preferred contour for absolute interrogatives. The learners were also dramatically more consistent in their use of particular patterns for each of the two utterance types investigated. A few learners showed evidence of an expanded pitch range. These changes resulted in an interlanguage intonation that was remarkably more like the target language and less like the learners' first language. Additionally, task formality or style was shown to be a significant variable related to variation in L2 Spanish intonation. At the end of the semester, the learners used the target dialect specific absolute interrogative pattern significantly more often in the informal task than they did in the formal one. Finally, native speaker interaction was another variable shown to have a significant effect on the development of target dialect intonational features. The proportion of time the learners reported speaking Spanish and English significantly interacted with change in dialect specific pattern use over time. Moreover, the three learners who showed the most L2 intonational development expressed what appear to be signs of high levels of social integration into the target language community.Item Chocolate in Trinidad (2021-10-05)(2021) Sternberg, Steven; University of Minnesota Duluth. Royal D. Alworth, Jr. Institute for International StudiesDr. Sternberg discusses the UMD short-term Study Abroad trip to Trinidad and Tobago that focuses on making chocolate. If you are a student, sign in to learn about this Study Abroad opportunity opportunity for the 2021-2022 Winter term (applications due on October 15th); or, just join the webinar to experience a bit of what Trinidad and Tobago has to offer.Item Crossing A Broad Divide: Enacting Educational Mobility Justice in Study Abroad(2021-05) Acevedo, RosaThe purpose of this dissertation is to examine the study abroad experiences of minoritized first-generation, low-income students who are largely absent in literature, and whose lives are shaped by historical, institutional, systematic, and societal dynamics that require unpacking. In this study I acknowledge that historically, minoritized communities have different histories of mobility and immobility. By contextualizing study abroad as an act of mobility, this research project situates study abroad from a Critical Race Theory and Mobility Justice framework to highlight the differentiated histories of mobility that helped shape study abroad participation. Differential mobilities for minoritized first-generation, low-income students revealed the varied experiences and participant histories that illustrate the discursive and systemic bases of (im)mobility that generate unjust power relations. Through participant counternarratives, I find that students’ differentiated mobilities affect and influence their mobility imaginaries, possibilities of travel, and their narrations of identity abroad. I conceptualize an educational mobility justice framework to examine how marginalized study abroad participants experience differential mobilities prior to study abroad, how these mobility inequalities impact their ability to even imagine themselves as participants, and how immobility, discursive and structural, obstructs and shapes study abroad participation.Item The Development of Castilian Dialectal Features During a Semester Abroad in Toledo, Spain(2013-05) George, AngelaWhile students typically are able to increase their proficiency level and increase their use of categorical features while studying abroad, less is known about the development, or lack thereof, over time of variable features. The current study examines the development of three geographically variant features, specific to the dialect of North-Central Castilian Spanish: the informal second person plural form vosotros, the interdental fricative [θ], and the uvular fricative [χ] in 25 adult speakers of English learning Spanish. During a 13-week semester abroad in Central Spain, the participants--all undergraduate majors or minors of Spanish--completed four tasks at the beginning, middle, and end of the semester to elicit the 3 dialectal features. In addition, the learners completed questionnaires about their background, language contact, and attitudes toward Castilian Spanish. To expand on the answers in the questionnaire, the participants completed a semi-structured interview with the researcher. The results showed a significant increase from the beginning to the middle of the semester in the production of vosotros (9% to 18%) and [χ] (9% to 13%), but no significant change from the middle to the end of the semester. On the other hand, the use of [θ] remained about the same throughout the semester, around 7%. The social factors correlated with the increased use of the features were stronger motivation to learn Spanish, less contact with English and fewer weekend trips, more dialectal awareness, and a stronger desire to speak Castilian Spanish. This study adds to the growing amount of research on the acquisition of variable features by learners of Spanish in a study abroad environment. It also examines social and linguistic factors correlated with the use of salient dialectal features. It fills a gap in previous research by examining the relationship between social factors, such as language attitudes, and the production of variable features, as previously noted by Geeslin (2011). Finally, it also provides insight into the acquisition of a dialect in one's second language by study abroad learners.Item Fostering intercultural competence through study abroad: a gender- based analysis of individual and program factors influencing development.(2011-12) Nichols, Karen PrestonThis study explores how individual student characteristics, study-abroad program choices and gender influence intercultural competence outcomes through study abroad. The Georgetown University Consortium Project (GUCP) sample included 1,163 students who completed a pre- and post-test of intercultural competence using the Intercultural Development Inventory and were studying abroad on one of 51 programs around the world. The secondary analysis of GUCP data found that men and women differed in both individual and program characteristics. Women were more likely to start out with a higher level of intercultural development, take all content courses delivered in the target language, and receive frequent group mentoring more often than men. Both taking content courses in the target language and receiving frequent group mentoring correlated with greater positive changes in intercultural competence through study abroad. Considering only individual student characteristics, negative predictors of change in intercultural competence were found to be initial intercultural development level and majoring in non-international business. Being female was a positive predictor. When both individual and program characteristics were considered, initial intercultural competence level and majoring in non-international business remained negative predictors. Living with international students and living with a host family were also shown to be negative predictors of intercultural competence development. Being female remained the only significant positive predictor of intercultural competence development when all individual and study-abroad program characteristics were considered.Item Intercultural competence and racial awareness in study abroad.(2009-08) Stallman, Elizabeth MaceDomestic race relations, particularly between Black and White Americans, continues to be an unresolved issue in this country. A parallel analysis informs us that increasing numbers of college students are choosing to study abroad, an experience proven to be one of intense introspection and personal growth. This study aims to show that White undergraduates who have substantive intercultural experiences with difference via participation in study abroad programs may develop positive racial identities and intercultural competence during and after education abroad. A powerful outcome is the potential of study abroad participants to move toward alleviating racial disparities and racism in America. The design is a sequential mixed methods design using quantitative and qualitative methods. The research questions are: 1) To what extent do White students' intercultural and racial orientations change as a result of having studied abroad? 2) How do White students articulate their intercultural competence development and racial attitude development as a result of having studied abroad? 3) Are the changes in a student's intercultural and racial orientations related? and 4) To what extent do White students perceive a change in their intercultural competence and racial identity? The population are students from a large, Midwestern university who studied abroad for the spring 2008 semester. The hypothesized connections between intercultural competence (Bennett, M., 1993) and White Racial Consciousness (Rowe et al., 1994; LaFleur et al., 2002) also appear in the empirical findings. Further, data from qualitative interviews indicate that White students can articulate intercultural competence more easily than racial awareness; reasons for this difference are discussed. Limitations of this study include the low response rate; and the variations in cultural difference that the students in the sample interact with during their study abroad experiences. Policy implications and research recommendations are offered.Item International Education Week (2020-11)(2020) University of Minnesota Duluth. International Programs and ServicesInternational Education Week (IEW) is an opportunity to celebrate the benefits of international education and exchange worldwide. This joint initiative of the U.S. Department of State and the U.S. Department of Education is an effort to promote programs that prepare Americans for a global environment and attract future leaders from abroad to study, learn, and exchange experiences. UMD is celebrating and we invite you to join us for events all week long! Panels – Speakers – Trivia – International Film & Food Pairings (both recipes and suggested take-out in Duluth!) – Book Recommendations & Study Abroad PhotographyItem International Education Week (2022-11)(2022) University of Minnesota Duluth. International Programs and ServicesItem The L2 Acquisition of Buenos Aires Spanish Intonation During a Study Abroad Semester(2014-05) Thornberry, PhilipThe present longitudinal study describes and categorizes the primary changes in L2 Spanish intonation over time by 11 learners studying abroad in Buenos Aires, Argentina for one academic semester. Via the autosegmental metrical model of analysis, this dissertation classifies intonational contours for absolute interrogatives and declarative statements at the beginning and end of the semester in a variety of speech styles. It also isolates extralinguistic factors, such as attitudes and degree of social interaction, that promote or hinder acquisition of Spanish intonational norms. Results show that learner absolute interrogative intonation is considerably different from that of their native Buenos Aires Spanish-speaking peers. At the beginning of the semester, the learner contour is classified as L*+H L* H%, which is marked by a final rising F0 movement. This contrasts with the native Buenos Aires Spanish preference L+H* L+¡H* L%, which is most notable for a final falling F0 contour. By the end of the semester, 9 of the 11 learners continue to produce the non-native-like rising intonation in all speech contexts. However, two learners--Eve and Samantha--begin to approximate native norms by producing an interrogative contour characterized here as L*+H L*+H L% in all speech contexts. The learner declarative contour changes very little over time, regardless of speech context. It is analyzed as L*+H L* L%. All 11 learners produce this contour at the beginning and end of the semester. However, Eve and Samantha periodically demonstrate a handful of native-like declarative intonational characteristics when speaking in the informal speech contexts, such as the long fall melody (Kaisse, 2001), early prenuclear peak alignment, and low phrase tones. The analysis of extralinguistic factors reveals that the learners developed generally favorable attitudes towards porteños, which might promote acquisition of native intonational norms. However, learner exposure to the target language was limited by sporadic and superficial interaction with native speakers. Eve and Samantha, the learners who evidenced the most change in intonation over time, stood out from the rest of the learners by developing more robust, supportive relationships with native Spanish-speaking contacts.Item The Social Networks: Characterizing L2 Spanish Proficiency Development in Study Abroad through Social Network Analysis(2020-06) Strawbridge, ArthurThis study examines the social network development of L2 Spanish learners over the course of an academic semester spent studying abroad in Spain. Social network analysis has been utilized widely in sociological research to understand and predict a range of human behaviors, and has also been applied to research in sociolinguistics (Milroy, 1980) and second language acquisition (SLA) (e.g., Baker-Smemoe et al., 2014; Isabelli-García, 2006; Mitchell et al., 2017). The present investigation proposes to utilize this level of analysis to identify patterns in university sojourners’ social experience, to describe the relationship between these patterns and L2 Spanish proficiency development, and to contextualize these findings within the landscape of contemporary U.S. study abroad practice. HASH(0x41e8010) Data for this investigation were collected from 43 L2 Spanish learners who were university students enrolled in various institutions in the U.S., and who spent the spring 2019 academic semester studying abroad in Spain. Students were recruited from six study abroad programs located in four cities in Spain (Granada, Madrid, Sevilla, Toledo). Social network data were collected via a specially designed social network questionnaire, while linguistic data were collected via the administration of two Spanish language proficiency tests, a Diploma de Español como Lengua Extranjera (DELE) exam and an elicited imitation task (EIT) (Ortega, Iwashita, Norris, & Rabie, 1999). Data collection was performed at the beginning and end of the participants’ sojourn in Spain, a period of time lasting approximately 12 weeks. HASH(0x41dc1d8) The results of this study identify four prominent social network patterns exhibited by students during their time abroad, characterized by varying levels of Spanish language use, emotional proximity to contacts, frequency of interaction, contact nationality, and network cohesion. These patterns exert a significant influence on learners’ gains in Spanish proficiency, with the most powerful influences on proficiency gains being the development of Spanish language-dominant social networks with NNS program peers, as well as the development of high numbers of integrated NS/NNS social groups. These findings are discussed in the context of the current state of U.S. study abroad programming.Item Study Abroad 2014 Photo Contest Exhibit (2014-11-17)(2014) University of Minnesota Duluth. International Education OfficePhoto Context Exhibit opening reception at Northern Shores Coffee Shop at UMD.Item Study Abroad 2014-2015 short-term programs (2014)(2014) University of Minnesota Duluth. International Education OfficeItem Study Abroad Application Deadline March 15, 2014 (2014)(2014) University of Minnesota Duluth. International Education Office; University of Minnesota Duluth. Study Abroad Program; Wilczek, Daniel; Bartsch, Stephanie MPosters advertise the study abroad option from UMD. If you’ve ever daydreamed about studying abroad, then you’ll want to visit the International Education Office (IEO).Item Study Abroad Fair (2019-09-09)(2019) University of Minnesota Duluth. International Programs and ServicesAttendees will have the opportunity to: > Meet with returned study abroad & exchange students > Learn about program options > Talk with staff and some of our study abroad providers for specific details on how to get startedItem Study Abroad Fair (2021-09-16)(2021) University of Minnesota Duluth. International Programs and ServicesJoin our staff, faculty study abroad leaders, and a few of our affiliate providers to learn all about study abroad. We have semester, year, and short-term programs all over the globe, for nearly every major.Item Study Abroad Fair (2022-09-15)(2022) University of Minnesota Duluth. International Programs and ServicesRedefine your education.Item Study Abroad May Session 2014 (2014)(2014) University of Minnesota Duluth. International Education Office; Bartsch, Stephanie M; Qiang, Fang; University of Minnesota Duluth. Study Abroad ProgramThe UMD Study Abroad program advertises destinations using posters. This poster identifies the May Session 2014 opportunity to study in Bejing China with UMD Department of History professor Dr. Qiang Fang as a program leader.Item Study Abroad Panel (2019-11-20)(2019) University of Minnesota Duluth. International Programs and ServicesItem Study Abroad Panel (2021-11-17)(2021) University of Minnesota Duluth. International Programs and Services; University of Minnesota Duluth. Housingtalk with real, live, umd study abroad students.Item Study Abroad Panel (2022-11-15)(2022) University of Minnesota Duluth. International Programs and Services