Catherine Fraser (Bloomington, Indiana) p.45-65
2002 Issue 1
Abstract
Much of the focus of research on gains in language acquisition in a study abroad setting has been on oral proficiency. This paper reports on a study designed to measure gains in reading and writing skills by American students enrolled in two different programs at Freiburg University, one lasting a semester, one a year. Pre- and post-tests were administered to both groups of students, one test focused on reading proficiency, demonstrated by the ability to link anaphora with their referents. The other was a cloze passage requiring precision in word level accuracy.
Students who followed less traditional study plans, including joining a football team, playing with an orchestra and serving as intern in a theatre made impressive progress compared with their peers enrolled in regular university courses. These findings suggest that while experiential learning can offer students a wealth of personal, cultural and social benefits, many of which not easily measured by quantitative tests, the more traditional (and measurable) skills of reading and writing are not necessarily shortchanged.