Study Abroad and Second Language Use: Constructing the Self

Languageplaysanessentialroleinhowweportrayourpersonalities.Throughsocialinteraction,othersdevelopapictureofusbasedonourlinguisticcues.However,whenweinteractinaforeignlanguageandinanewcountry,limitationsinlinguisticandculturalknowledgecanmakeself-presentationamoredifficulttask.Thisbookexplorestheproblemsfacedbylanguagestudentsembarkingon'studyabroad'programmes,spendingtimeinaforeigncountryandhavingtointeract-andexpresstheirpersonalities-inasecondlanguage.Drawingonherextensiveworkwithstudents,ValeriePellegrinoAveniexploresthefactorsthatcomplicateself-presentationandthestrategiesstudentsuseforovercomingthese,lookinginparticularatissuesofanxiety,control,age,gender,risk-takingandself-esteem.Offeringrichinsightsintothestudyabroadexperience,thisbookwillbeaninvaluableresourceforprofessionalsinsecondlanguageacquisition,andforteachersandstudentspreparingforstudyabroad.