University Study Abroad in New Zealand: Identity, Ideology, and Investment in English Language Learning

Abstract

Study abroad experiences are often seen as being good for, or even necessary for, attaining a high level of second language (L2) proficiency. However, not all students achieve the same level of L2 proficiency from their study abroad, in part due to their second language investment. Using Darvin and Norton’s (2015) theory of investment, and expanding on this theory with Bucholtz and Hall’s (2005) identity principles, investment is comprised of the complex interaction between the learners’ identities, capital, and the ideologies of both the learner and their language learning context. The present study investigated how study abroad students invested in the target language (TL) and in TL-mediated practices while on a semester-long study abroad at the University of Otago, New Zealand. Over the course of one university semester five study abroad students engaged in a journaling and interview process, which also included the creation of photo narratives and social maps. Using a case study approach, this study found that participants had many investments in the different fields of the study abroad context, each for a different desired outcome. Some investments that participants made were to acquire, or participate in, the target language; however other investments were made to attain specific material or symbolic capital, or to have a desired L2-mediated identity emerge. Further, participants gained other desirable material and symbolic capital through emergent L1-mediated identities. Alongside participants’ successful investments, this study examines when participants were unable to invest, and when their investment did not attain them the capital they had expected. The study concludes by using these findings to provide recommendations for future study abroad students, study abroad advisors, and implications for further research.