Study abroad homestay versus dormitory

Abstract

Abstract This article addresses differences in 25 study abroad students that reside in the dormitory, primarily with other native English speakers, to those that live with local host families during a 13-week semester in Central Spain. In addition to completing four tasks to elicit three regional features ([θ], [χ], and vosotros) the participants, all majors or minors of Spanish, also completed questionnaires and interviews to elicit a variety of social and individual factors, including social networks and amount of contact with Spanish and English. Living experience accounts for differences in the production of one feature in one task at the middle of the semester. In addition, those students that lived with a host family exhibited more contact with Spanish and completed fewer international trips on weekends. The study not only discusses ways to increase contact in Spanish but also ways to improve the study abroad experience in general.