What Now? An Exploratory Analysis of Language Maintenance in Japanese Study Abroad Alumni

What Now? An Exploratory Analysis of Language Maintenance in Japanese Study Abroad Alumni

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This paper examines the language maintenance strategies that naturally occur in Japanese university students who have returned from studying abroad.Often, immersion programs are seen as motivational tools and end goals for foreign language acquisition, thus read more this research seeks to find the answers to three questions: Do Japanese university students naturally develop maintenance strategies after studying abroad? If so, what are they and how can they be organized? Is there a connection between recency of studying abroad, duration, and the number of strategies developed? In this exploratory analysis, nine students were interviewed on their study abroad experiences, and the number and type of maintenance strategies they developed.A majority of students reported using luau thank you cards digital tools and focusing on the input language skills, suggesting a preference or an availability of technological, passive foreign language tools.

These findings provide a strong foundation for further, more expansive quantitative study.