Abstract Although the effects of a study abroad (SA) experience have been investigated, the impact of a SA experience in a multilingual setting is unknown. The present study examines oral lexical L2 development in Spanish as a foreign language over a three-month SA experience in a multilingual setting (Spanish, Catalan, and English). To track oral lexical development in Spanish, 18 international students spending a semester at a Catalan university were asked to explain a story in Spanish at the beginning and at the end of their stay. Data were examined quantitatively (lexical complexity) and qualitatively (through two different measures of incorrect lexical exchanges, one involving only Spanish words and the other one involving words from other languages). Results indicated that participants used more varied words and made fewer lexical exchanges involving other languages at the post-test. However, the qualitative results showed that, although participants learned more words, they did not use them appropriately.
Vázquez et al. (2026) studied this question.