The road less traveled and the difference it makes: Approaches to studying abroad in Brazil and their effects on language learning and intercultural contact

• Author / Creator

  Loires Diniz, Gabriela

• Even though student mobility is more frequent than ever before, the predominant direction is mainly from countries considered peripheral to those that have more economic and political representation (Altbach, 2004; OECD, 2015). The present study investigated the reasons why students take part in programs in Brazil, the composition of their social networks and participation in peer programs while abroad, and their implications for learning Portuguese as a foreign language. This research had a mixed methods longitudinal design, in which 97 participants completed questionnaires at two time points, first in August and then in December 2016 --once shortly after they arrived and again shortly before they left Brazil. A thematic analysis of the reasons that participants presented for going to Brazil resulted in three general “approaches”: Actors, who were interested in idiosyncrasies of SA in Brazil; Observers, who were interested in having an experience abroad; and Riders, who had SA in Brazil as a convenient choice. This classification was then incorporated in the quantitative analyses and, although participants' approaches did not predict their social networks, as all students reported interacting mostly with co-nationals, they did predict Portuguese language levels and how much the participants benefited from peer programs in language learning. Moreover, classification into approach groups was related to their countries of origin, supporting an articulation of study abroad in terms of core-periphery relations (Wallerstein, 2004), which might be explained by the fact that students from core countries see Brazil as an "exotic" destination. Results indicate that participation in a SA program does not lead indiscriminately to intercultural contact and language learning.

• Subjects / Keywords

  • Intercultural contact
  • Language learning
  • Study Abroad
  • Brazil

• Graduation date

  Spring 2018

• Type of Item

  Thesis

• Degree

  Master of Science

• DOI

  https://doi.org/10.7939/R38P5VR29

• License

  This thesis is made available by the University of Alberta Libraries with permission of the copyright owner solely for non-commercial purposes. This thesis, or any portion thereof, may not otherwise be copied or reproduced without the written consent of the copyright owner, except to the extent permitted by Canadian copyright law.