The Effects of Study Abroad Duration and Predeparture Proficiency on the L2 Proficiency of Japanese University Students: A Meta-Analysis Approach

要旨

The present study aims to clarify the effects of study abroad (SA) duration and predeparture proficiency on the second language (L2) progress of Japanese students of English. As a first step toward this goal, studies on SA of one month or less (short-term), of more than one month to less than six months (middle-term), and of six months or more (long-term) were reviewed extensively. Next, 31 studies, all of which reported SA students’ pre- and post-test scores, were selected, and effect sizes of the students’ L2 gains were generated to allow for further comparisons among the three lengths of SA and among three proficiency levels based on their pre-test scores that were carried out by means of a meta-analysis method. The results showed that the magnitude of the effect of long-term SA was more than twice as great as that of middle-term SA and more than four times as great as that of short-term SA. The second factor analyzed in this study, students’ predeparture proficiency, did not seem to be an influential predictor of L2 gains. However, further analysis revealed that there was an interaction between the two factors, and low proficiency students tended to attend shorter-term SA programs.

主題