Lexical Fluency And Cross-Linguistic Influence During Immersion Abroad: A Longitudinal Study of German Speakers in the US

Abstract

This dissertation explores the development of lexical access for production during study abroad (SA). It follows the pattern of a three-article dissertation. The first article provides a literature review and an overview of previously utilized research methods to study lexical development during SA. The article calls for methodological advancements to shed more light on the relation between lexical development in L1 and L2 and language use and exposure patterns during SA. Moreover, it calls for more longitudinal studies to explore dynamically changing patterns of L1 and L2 lexical access in SA participants. Articles 2 and 3 present findings of an empirical study conducted with a group of German exchange students in the US. Article 2 reports a longitudinal study that tracked the SA participants’ L1 and L2 lexical skills using picture-naming tasks, verbal fluency tasks, and self-report questionnaires. Findings provided evidence for the benefits of SA in improving L2 lexical skills and the maintenance of L1 lexical skills although some traces of dynamic change in the L1 were also observed. Article 3 scrutinizes the cases of two high school SA students, Karl and Franziska. Their use and exposure frequencies of L1, L2, and additional languages were tracked through acoustic behavioral observation with the Electronically Activated Recorder (EAR) in addition to self-reports in periodically administered questionnaires. These data were related to the lexical production data elicited through picture naming and verbal fluency tasks. The case study found that Karl and Franziska improved their L2 lexical skills, and while no pronounced L1 lexical attrition was found, there was some indication of impeded L1 lexical access in the verbal fluency tasks as well as in participants’ self-reports. There was mostly agreement between the findings of the EAR and participants’ self-reports, especially for language production. In conclusion, this dissertation provided evidence for SA’s impact on L2 lexical gains and for the sturdiness of the L1 lexical system during relatively long-term SA. Methodologically, this study demonstrated for the first time the usefulness and potential of acoustic behavioral observation and the EAR as a method for SA research.