“Open Your Mind, Sharpen Your Wits”: A Narrative Approach to the Benefits of Study Abroad as Perceived by Erasmus+ Students

ABSTRACT

This article provides qualitative information chronicling the study-abroad experiences of eight Erasmus+ students. Data were obtained from the analysis of focus-group discussions, e-journal narratives, plus background and language contact questionnaires. Combined, such data illustrate the participants’ discursive positions on their socialisation patterns and the impact of Erasmus+ on their overall L2 selves, identity and transcultural competence, whilst also pointing to possible language gains. Results show that participants perceive they have widened their social circles, experienced personal growth, accrued new knowledge, and begun to perceive their own imagined communities differently. Finally, the article identifies several factors that seem to have had an impact on such results, and points to Erasmus as a life-changing experience.

KEYWORDS:

• Identity
• language acquisition
• socialisation
• study abroad
• transcultural competence

Acknowledgments

The authors thank the anonymous reviewers for their insightful comments on earlier versions of this article.

Notes

1. The latest data provided by the University of the Balearic Islands confirms that SA is indeed a gendered experience: in the academic year 2017-2018 alone, this institution had 211 outgoing students (73 male vs 138 female) and 281 incoming students (88 male vs 193 female). Such figures, in line with those from previous years, confirm that Erasmus is especially popular among.

2. The number of references triggered under each node appears in brackets.

3. All excerpts have been taken verbatim from the transcripts and translated into English when originally in Catalan/Spanish. Asterisks (*) have been used to signal English translation from Catalan/Spanish.

Additional information

Funding

This publication has been carried out under the auspices of the University of the Balearic Islands' Research Groups in British and Comparative Cultural Studies: Identities and Representation (BRICCS), a member of the research network “Twenty-First-Century Anglophone Literatures: Narrative and Performative Spaces” (RED2018-102678-T), and Applied Linguistics (REGAL), as well as the research projects RTI2018-097186-B-I00 and PGC2018-098815-B-I00, Ministry of Science, Education and Universities, Spain-FEDER.

Notes on contributors

José Igor Prieto-Arranz

José Igor Prieto-Arranz is Associate Professor in English at the University of the Balearic Islands (UIB). His research, inquiring into textual manifestations of identity, has appeared in edited collections as well as high-ranking international journals. Most recently he has co-edited The Humanities Still Matter (Peter Lang, 2020).

Maria Juan-Garau

Maria Juan-Garau is Full Professor in English at the UIB. Her research interests centre on language acquisition in different learning contexts with special attention to study abroad and CLIL. Her work has appeared in numerous international journals and edited volumes. She has co-edited Content-Based Language Learning in Multilingual Educational Environments.

Francesca Mesquida-Mesquida

Francesca Mesquida-Mesquida holds a BA in English Philology and an MA in teaching from the UIB. She currently teaches English at Manacor’s Official Language School (Majorca, Spain).