Book announced at https://linguistlist.org/issues/34.1189

AUTHOR: Celeste Kinginger
AUTHOR: Jingyuan Zhuang
TITLE: The Professional Lives of Language Study Abroad Alumni
SUBTITLE: A Mixed Methods Investigation
SERIES TITLE: New Perspectives on Language and Education
PUBLISHER: Multilingual Matters
YEAR: 2023

REVIEWER: Laura Callahan

SUMMARY
Kinginger and Zhuang conducted an investigation of the professional experiences of former and current U.S. students who studied a language outside the United States. The book has eight chapters, plus appendices, references, and an index.

Chapter 1, “Introduction and Literature Review”, opens with a statement on the initial impetus for the investigation: “[…] a desire to defend and illustrate the value of language learning for US-based students in particular, as well as Anglophone students more generally, wherever ‘linguistic myopia’ may prevail (Lanvers et al., 2021: 5).” The literature review is organized by themes of previous studies. One clear conclusion is that over the decades, study abroad (SA) for U.S. college students has seen reductions in the length of sojourn, along with increases in cost. There is no more “junior year abroad” for language majors or anyone else, and the experience of living and attending classes in another country—always associated with socioeconomic privilege—has moved even farther out of reach for students from less affluent families. Also noted in the literature review is Anglophone SA sojourners’ “emphasis on spoken, interactive language proficiency at the expense of formal, academic literacy” (p. 11). Logically following is the finding that “Anglophone learners infrequently desire or develop the advanced literacy skills that could maximize their options for international work” (pp. 21-22).

Chapter 2, “Research Design”, provides an in-depth description of Kinginger and Zhuang’s survey and subsequent interviews of SA alumni. Respondents included adults of all ages, grouped from under 25 to over 60. Thus, some participants were completing college, some were mid-career, and still others were retired. National organizations such as The Forum on Education Abroad helped with recruitment and administration. A total of 4899 complete questionnaires were obtained. Survey participants were asked for demographic information, who their SA program provider(s) had been, what language(s) they knew in addition to English, how their sojourn was paid for, and what their country of destination was. The survey data indicates that: “Females are in the majority, programs are most often self-funded, and the destinations chosen tend to correspond to commonly taught languages” (pp. 29-30). The authors then proceed to an extremely thorough explanation of the methods used, recounting the dilemmas they confronted in attempting to make the study a true mix of quantitative and qualitative.

Chapter 3, “Using Languages at Work”, examines the degree of importance competence in a non-English language has for the respondents in their daily work life. We learn that the ten most common languages used at work by the individuals in the research sample were, in descending order: Spanish, French, German, Italian, Chinese, Japanese, Portuguese, Russian, Arabic, and Dutch (p. 56). The reader becomes acquainted with some of the participants through “intact professional life history narratives of individuals who require language abilities to perform their duties in various sectors including education, business, healthcare, government service, engineering, sports management and the arts” (p. 54).

In Chapter 4, “Discovering a Calling”, the authors demonstrate how SA helped people discover their vocation, even among those who have not gone on to use their languages at work. This chapter focuses on the data revealed by participants’ responses to a question about their SA experience’s impact on “selection of employer type, selection of employment field, interest in working overseas, interest in working for a multinational organization in the US, and acquisition of skills informing career choice and leading to employment” (p. 87). In several cases, SA facilitated serendipitous exposure to a profession that students might not have otherwise envisioned for themselves.

Chapter 5, “Quests for Identity”, offers accounts from former SA participants of diverse backgrounds, including heritage speakers of the language of their destination. Some sojourners encounter prejudice from host families, highlighting the fact that SA cohorts have heretofore been predominately White. One respondent, who herself was now working as a SA advisor, expressed the hope to introduce underrepresented students early to “the notion of international experiences” (p. 115).

Chapter 6, “Exploring Features of Study Abroad Programs”, compares participant reports of program duration, residence options, and reentry into their U.S. institution. As mentioned in the Introduction, SA sojourns are becoming shorter. But the benefits of even a three-week summer program were still found to accrue, especially for students with limited experience outside their home communities. This adds to the reasons to diversify SA participation, and shorter sojourns can help facilitate SA for students who cannot leave their work or family responsibilities for an entire semester. As for residence options, the advisor-touted homestay (as opposed to living with other students from the U.S.) was indeed the source of many well-remembered and impactful experiences, judging from participants’ accounts. As for participants’ homecoming experiences, it seemed that students at smaller institutions tended to fare better, though many if not most returnees endured a period of readjustment.

Chapter 7, “Multilingual Dispositions and Lessons for Life” underlines the reality that few Anglophone SA sojourners will find a completely immersive experience in another language, due to the prevalence of English as a lingua franca. Regardless of the level of language proficiency attained, students will reap other benefits, such as increased resilience, flexible disposition, and intercultural communicative competence. Turning specifically to language acquisition, Kinginger and Zhuang cite recent research (Diao & Trentman, 2021) debunking the myth that SA equates to language immersion which in turn guarantees language acquisition. Such research “may at last orient the field toward a permanent recognition of the fact that study abroad settings are diverse linguistic ecologies that were not designed for the extraction of language competence by visiting students” (p. 154). Nevertheless, and going hand in hand with the flexible disposition mentioned above, Kinginger and Zhuang’s participants did learn how to communicate better in multilingual settings, even if everyone happened to be speaking English. They acquired various accommodation strategies to improve communication with L2 users of English.

Chapter 8, “Conclusion”, highlights the authors’ findings and offers insights for research, education, policy, and the public. Consonant with research cited in the literature review (Mitchell et al. 2020), Kinginger and Zhuang mention respondents’ scarce expression of the “need or desire for advanced academic literacy in their additional languages” (p. 167). The section on study limitations features a frank review of potential weaknesses, such as, for example, that the study sample was likely biased toward individuals with enthusiasm for SA and language learning. The book was written during the Covid-19 pandemic, and the authors close with the hope “for a brighter future in which young people with multilingual aspirations will once again routinely pursue their goals through travel and learning” (p. 172).

EVALUATION
This book offers a clear exposition of a fascinating investigation. In addition to a report on a vital topic, the reader is afforded insights into the major methodological decisions that the researchers had to make. To craft a truly mixed methods study—as opposed to a quantitative one with some aspects being qualitative in name only—Kinginger and Zhuang interrogated traditional procedures used in applied linguistics. In rejecting the coding of interviews for themes in favor of using whole narratives of life stories, they observe: “Coding may provide access to generalized ‘meaning’ but does not capture the semantic domains that are significant for individuals. Nevertheless, in attempting to enhance the appearance of objectivity, qualitative researchers routinely rely on coding which erases context, favors commonality over diversity, imposes one specific interpretation usually guided by what the researcher already knows about the topic, and is fundamentally a form of nominal measurement, thus a quantitative technique” (p. 48).

Kinginger and Zhuang’s analysis of their data and SA trends is likewise nuanced. For example, in the first chapter of the book they trace the historical trajectory of SA programs in the context of U.S. universities, from its beginnings in the “Grand Tour tradition” (Gore, 2005: 24) to the current neoliberal emphasis on “the competitiveness of the individual in the global marketplace” (p. 21). They cite Zemach-Bersin’s (2007) contention that “discourses of ‘global citizenship’ mask elitist, imperialistic and nationalist projects wherein the world becomes a commodity that privileged Americans have an unquestioned right to consume” (p. 19). In the book’s final chapter, the authors contrast this view of SA as a neoliberal enterprise with the fact that a majority of their respondents listed their motivation to learn another language not as a way to attain a marketable skill for the global economy, but rather “to understand another culture” (p. 163). Although one might argue that understanding another culture is indeed considered a useful skill in numerous professions today, many of Kinginger and Zhuang’s research participants genuinely did not seem to have done a SA sojourn with career prospects foremost in mind.

With respect to Spanish in particular and SA programs for U.S. students, an obvious yet often unspoken tension must be mentioned. As Magro (2023) points out, many students do not seem to view U.S. Spanish-speakers as possible interlocutors, preferring instead to travel thousands of miles to develop their Spanish skills. Students’ desire to “go outside the United States to study in a Spanish-speaking country, legitimizing the linguistic practices of these countries, and ignore taking advantage of the situations that are presented to them within the United States to speak and get in touch with Hispanic culture(s) and language(s), responds to a series of hegemonic and racist attitudes and ideologies that delegitimize US Hispanics” (Magro, 2023, pp. 35-36).

And indeed, Kinginger and Zhuang make this same point, commenting on the work of Doerr (2012), who found that “study abroad guidebooks for US students […] celebrate the cognitive dissonance that can emerge from encounters with the unknown and maintain that such discovery of difference is uniquely available in study abroad (although similar experiences may be provoked by crossing race, class or regional boundaries at home)” (p. 19). However, later on the authors refer to a participant’s “realization that attaining additional language proficiency requires a sustained, long-term effort”, and quote his statement that “[i]f I had known that sooner, I would have done whatever I could to get abroad sooner and be in a fully immersed experience” (p. 84). In this individual’s case, the language in question was Spanish, yet the authors make no mention here of the fact that such an immersion would have been possible without leaving the U.S.

Readers may occasionally find themselves forgetting the authors’ stated focus on language learning. Some of the personal and professional growth that their respondents report can at first glance seem unrelated, or at least not dependent on, language learning. This happens, for example, when we come upon an account of someone who rarely or never uses languages other than English in their current workplace. But, as Kinginger and Zhuang remind us, a synchronic view of one’s life does not suffice. An individual’s situation at a given stage in their career has been shaped by previous experiences, without which the person may not have reached their present station. There are multiple examples in their data of respondents for whom the experience of SA and learning a language set the stage for later opportunities, opportunities that they did not, and in many cases could not, have known about prior to embarking on their first international sojourn.

As Kinginger and Zhuang observe, the trajectories revealed in some of their participants’ narratives offer insights that would be missed in studies measuring language and other gains following one single sojourn (p. 131). Several individuals recounted multiple SA experiences, perhaps beginning with a summer or semester during high school. In this reviewer’s university, for example, it is not uncommon for students in elementary Spanish courses to disclose—and to simultaneously discount—prior experience with the language during service trips, family vacations, or soccer camp in Spanish-speaking countries. Although these students sometimes have more proficiency than they believe, the point Kinginger and Zhuang make is that assessment too soon after an educational experience can be deceptive. This is a point that would be well-taken by college administrators and the educational assessment industry in general.

Finally, some of the value added through language learning cannot be measured by traditional proficiency measures. One respondent noted that empathy is an essential quality for doctors, and the authors observe that “one of the ways to gain an empathic stance is through the exhilarating but also humbling experience of learning to express yourself in another language” (p. 122). Another participant attracted “a ‘great mentor’ who appreciated the intrepid spirit that had led her to immerse herself in an unknown language and culture and who pushed her to continue expanding her professional horizons” (p. 118). This person reminds us of the tolerance for ambiguity that language teachers hope to cultivate in their students, with her affirmation that “the biggest thing I got out of this study abroad experience is just different ways to look at a problem, and knowing that you’ll […] enjoy the experience and you’ll make it through to the end, right? you don’t know what that path is going to look like. you can’t predict it. just go for the ride, right? just have fun with it” (p. 119).

An aspect that seems slightly under addressed in this volume concerns the finding that U.S. students on the whole do not value advanced literacy in their additional languages. Respondents “conveyed skepticism about the value added from advanced language ability or their own capacity to achieve it” (p. 167). Readers may wonder if this is an inevitable byproduct of the U.S. national apathy toward language learning, or whether, as Kinginger and Zhuang suggest, such attitudes could be changed by promotion of “the kinds of literacy development that might lead to more international career options and thereby to a larger population of Americans possessing the language proficiency […] necessary for participation in complex business or political negotiations (Trentman & Diao, 2017)” (p. 167). To be fair, the authors cannot be expected to solve the ongoing issue of students as consumers and the ambivalence toward academic rigor in general and toward learning languages in particular.

In conclusion, The Professional Lives of Language Study Abroad Alumni presents a masterful, discerning, and data-driven analysis of SA and its evolution over the decades. It is a valuable contribution to the literature on global engagement and language-learning in higher education. It will be of great interest to language acquisition researchers, educators, and SA professionals. Students considering SA—or their parents— might also find this book highly compelling.

REFERENCES
Diao, Wenhao & Emma Trentman, eds. 2021. Language Learning in Study Abroad: The Multilingual Turn. Bristol: Multilingual Matters.

Doerr, Neriko Musha. 2012. Study abroad as ‘adventure’: Globalist construction of host–home hierarchy and governed adventurer subjects. Critical Discourse Studies. 9(3). 257-268.

Gore, Joan Elias. 2005. Dominant Beliefs and Alternative Voices. Discourse, Belief, and Gender in Study Abroad. New York: Routledge.

Lanvers, Ursula, Amy S. Thompson & Martin East. 2021. Introduction: Is language learning in Anglophone countries in crisis? In Language Learning in Anglophone Countries: Challenges, Practices, Ways Forward, eds. U. Lanvers, A.S. Thompson & M. East. 1-15. Cham: Palgrave MacMillan.

Magro, José L. 2023. Language and Antiracism. An Antiracist Approach to Teaching (Spanish) Language in the USA. Research. Bristol: Multilingual Matters.

Mitchell, Rosamund, Nicole Tracy-Ventura & Amanda Huensch. 2020. After study abroad: The maintenance of multilingual identity among Anglophone language graduates. Modern Language Journal. 104. 327-344.

Trentman, Emma & Wenhao Diao. 2017. The American gaze east: Discourses and destinations of US study abroad. Study Abroad Research in Second Language Acquisition and International Education. 2. 175-205.

Zemach-Bersin, Talya. 2007. Global citizenship & study abroad: It’s all about U.S. Critical Literacy: Theories and Practices. 1(2). 16-28.

ABOUT THE REVIEWER

Laura Callahan has taught courses in Spanish language and linguistics in the public university systems of California, Michigan, and New York. She is currently a Senior Lecturer in the Department of Modern Languages & Literatures at Santa Clara University, where she teaches all levels of Spanish language and linguistics. Her principal area of research is Spanish in the United States. Her most recent article is From Downtown to the Eastside: Languages other than English in a commercial linguistic landscape in California. International Journal of the Linguistic Association of the Southwest. 2021, 35-1: 51-75.