Learning the Rules: Language Development and Cultural Adjustment During Study Abroad

ABSTRACT: A student in the first semester of her year‐long program in Mexico participated in an ethnographic study of language development and cultural and academic adjustment. Data included speech and writing samples, class and field trip observations, focus group meetings, exams, class evaluations, and interviews with professors. The data reveal that the most dramatic change in her language proficiency came about as she learned the “rules,” both societal and academic, that allowed her to function within the culture. However, despite the claim that informal experiences were more important than formal ones, there was a dynamic interplay between experiences inside and outside the classroom, such that each fostered change in the context of the other. It is suggested that encouraging students to talk and write about their experiences facilitates both cultural adjustment and language growth.