At the Intersection of SLA and Sociolinguistics: The Predictive Power of Social Networks During Study Abroad

This longitudinal study of 17 American learners of French lies at the intersection of 2 complementary fields of inquiry in second language acquisition (SLA): language variation and change (LVC) and language acquisition during study abroad. Studies in LVC examine the nature and use of linguistic features that have more than 1 possible realization in native-speaker speech (i.e., variable features). Conversely, investigations into language acquisition during study abroad have primarily focused on the acquisition of categorical features that have only 1 possible, grammatical realization in the target language, or on the acquisition of global oral proficiency and fluency. Moreover, while studies in LVC have long relied on social network theory to predict language performance, existing research on language acquisition during study abroad provides conflicting results and explanations for learner gains during study abroad. The current study bridges this research gap by providing empirical evidence for the critical role of social networks with target-language speakers in the acquisition of stylistic variation by French learners during study abroad. Additionally, because this study includes both semester and year-long learners, results demonstrate the significant impact of time on task, which, when combined with network strength, negates the role of individual learner characteristics previously shown to influence acquisition during study abroad.