Communicative Settings for Language Learning Abroad

Abstract

In reviewing her learning journals, English-language educator Linda Librande described her search for ‘that real soul-melding, transcendent experience that comes with wrapping yourself up in another language’ (1998: 170). After taking little swipes at learning Arabic and Mandarin, Librande settled on Korean. When the occasion presented itself, she took advantage of a five-month stay in Seoul, hoping, apparently, to ‘soak up Korean like a sponge:’

All in all, my FL situation did not foster my language development as much as I had hoped it would. The time was too short. Five months was just a wisp of time and I needed more, much more. Also I had to face the fact that I was living and working in a largely English milieu where many wanted to practice their English with me. Unfortunately, dropping from a cloud onto a Korean street was not enough to ensure that I would soak up Korean like a sponge. It became clearer that learning a new language is a deliberate act…

(Librande 1998: 183–184)