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This study investigates the differential effects of two learning contexts, formal instruction ( FI ) at home and a study abroad period ( SA ), on the oral production skills of advanced‐level Catalan‐Spanish undergraduate learners of English. Speech samples elicited through an interview at three data collection times over a 2‐year period were quantitatively assessed for fluency, accuracy, and complexity. The results reveal robust fluency gains during SA , moderate improvement in accuracy, and lack of gains in complexity. No gains were obtained during FI . Initial fluency scores, rather than post‐ FI scores, accounted for a substantial amount of variance in the fluency scores after SA . These findings provide strong evidence for the positive impact of an SA period on the development of oral fluency.
Mora et al. (Thu,) studied this question.