Social Learning in Study Abroad Narratives from a Longitudinal Study of Co-constructed L2 Affinity Spaces

This book explores how international students construct target language- (TL-) mediated social spaces for socializing. The author asks what factors either prevent or promote the construction of TL-mediated socializing opportunities by international students, how such students can grow both as TL learners/speakers/users and as people throughout their TL-mediated socializing, and how international students’ socializing, and their affective states during socializing, change across time during their stay in the host country. He analyses international students’ TL-mediated socializing and its co-construction primarily within the conceptual frameworks of situated learning (Lave & Wenger, 1991) and affinity space (Gee, 2004), with additional insights from peripheral/marginal participation (Wenger, 1998), scaffolding (Wood, Bruner, & Ross, 1976), identity (re-)construction (Norton, 2000), and Discourse (Gee, 2012). This book proposes concrete educational and pedagogical implications, based on the findings, which will be meaningful for both educational institutions and educators involved in study abroad programs or education. It will also be of interest to students and scholars in related academic fields including Applied Linguistics, Language Education, Sociolinguistics and Pragmatics. 

Chapter 1.- Introduction: International Students’ Target Language (TL)-mediated Socializing Landscape.- PART I.- BUILDING BRIDGES: SOCIAL NETWORKING DYNAMICS AMONG INTERNATIONAL STUDENTS DURING SA.- Chapter 2.- The Changing Social Landscape of SA.- Chapter 3.- Patterns of Connection: Unveiling Students’ Socializing Styles.- Chapter 4.- Creating Comfortable TL-Mediated Affinity Spaces in Diverse Social Contexts.- PART II.- FROM CHALLENGES TO TRIUMPHS: CO-CONSTRUCTING TL-MEDIATED SOCIAL SPACES.- Chapter 5.- Understanding the Challenges: Preventing Factors of TL-Mediated Socializing.- Chapter 6.- Cultivating Connections: Facilitators for Enhancing TL-Mediated Socializing.- PART III.- UNFOLDING TL-MEDIATED AFFINITY SPACES: EXPLORING LANGUAGE, IDENTITY, AND CONNECTION THROUGH STUDENT NARRATIVES.- Chapter 7.- Yuri’s SA Narrative in the U.K.- Chapter 8. Taku’s SA Narrative in the U.S.- Chapter 9.- Chisato’s SA Narrative in the U.S.- Chapter 10.- Discussions and Reflections: Synthesizing Insights.- Chapter 11.- Concluding Thoughts: Recap and Future Avenues.

Yoshifumi Fukada is a professor in the Faculty of Business Administration at Toyo University, Tokyo, Japan. His research interests are the development of L2 learner and user dynamic identity when learning the English language in socializing (in and out of class), the use of English as a lingua franca (ELF) in international communities as well as situated TL learning and motivation in language learning.