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The importance of emotions in year abroad language study

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Papers
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Dr. Emine Çakır
Faculty of Oriental Studies, University of Oxford, UK

Prof. Dr. Julide Inozu
ELT Department, Faculty of Education, University of Cukurova, Turkey
Academic Visitor, Faculty of Oriental Studies, University of Oxford, UK

ABSTRACT
This paper reports on a case study that explores the emotional experiences the participants recollected and described regarding their year abroad foreign language learning. In addition to a range of linguistic factors that influence language development of learners in the host environment, there are also extra-linguistic variables including individual reactions of the students, such as emotional behaviors, that may affect the learning process while abroad. The emotional experiences of two British tertiary level students were searched examined through autobiographical interview research during their year abroad (immersion at a university in L2 context) after they completed a one-year intensive language course in the target language, Turkish, as part of their B.A. education. Taking into account the learners’ emotional histories, which focus on the emotional responses of these two learners to the language learning process over the course of two academic semesters in the host country, this qualitative research makes the impact of emotions visible. The personal narratives of the two learners offer evidence of the ways that emotions either enhance learning or act as detrimental to foreign language learning and language use during year abroad. The emerging themes in the narratives shed insights into the outcomes of the emotional experiences that shape these learners’ interpretations of their current selves and imagined selves as language learners. By doing so, this study provides us specific examples and information about how learners appraise their experiences in their foreign language learning trajectories. Implications for the role that emotions play in year abroad language learning programs are also discussed in the paper.

Keywords: year abroad study, language learning, emotions

INTRODUCTION
In modern foreign language degree courses in the UK, periods of experiential learning have become institutionalized at higher education level (Bridges, 2000 in Meier and Daniels, 2013). Many universities include year abroad study as a standard component of the mainstream teaching in the related programs. During their year abroad, higher education (HE) language students are expected to improve their language skills as a natural outcome of their language learning experiences which extend beyond their formal teaching activities in their courses to natural authentic interactions with the social world in their daily lives in the host community. The year abroad programs, as mentioned by Aveni (2005), are designed to maximize communicative language use opportunities in culturally authentic environments. However, during their year abroad studies, learners encounter various types of social and psychological barriers, as an addition to the problems caused by poor language competence, that affect their use of the second language. According to Meier and Daniels (2013), there is little understanding of what is going on during the year abroad for language students partly due to the fact that the majority of research focuses on the product rather than on the process of year abroad. The researchers further add that much of the year abroad literature seems to view language acquisition in year abroad context as an accumulation of knowledge by the learner, and thus, it ignores the fact that learning is a socially mediated activity. However, the strength of the informal relationships contracted by the individual learner and the type of motivation the learners have in learning the target language in the host country are closely connected (Isabelli-Garcia, 2006). As put forward by Jakson (2008), “it is not the context itself that necessarily leads to linguistic gain and intercultural competence, but students’ actual experiences within the target culture”.  In keeping with this idea, this study explores the issue of how students make sense of their emotional experiences while using the language in their social context beyond their formal education, and how the emotions emerged mediate their language use in their immediate context in specific, and their language learning in general. The rationale of this study rests on the following basic premises:

  • It is well established in literature that emotions influence language learning (Imai, 2010; Lopez, 2011; Lopez and Cardenas, 2014; Ivaz, Costa & Dunabeitia, 2015; Aragao, 2015, Beseghi, 2018). Yet, in research (Swain, 2013), emotions tend to be viewed as the private, inner reactions of an individual. The researcher instead argues for a different perspective, that emotions are interpersonal, not private events. According to Swain (ibid), emotions are socially and culturally derived and, along with cognition, they mediate learning. In a similar line, Imai (2010) also views emotions as socially constructed reactions emerging within communications and argues that they mediate language learning outcomes.
  • Another argument concerning the role of emotions in second language learning relates to the interrelationship between emotions and learning. With regards to this issue, Swain (2013) states that in the individual differences literature in second language acquisition (SLA), emotions are seen as the independent (causal) variables and language learning is dependent on them (p.197). The researcher further adds that the reverse relationship, that language learning may influence emotions, is rarely considered (Swain, 2013).
  • Thirdly, the research available focuses primarily on emotions experienced within the classroom, rather than in the daily lives of learners within various social contexts (Ross and Rivers, 2018). According to Ross and Rivers (2018), the focus placed upon emotions within the structured atmosphere of the formal learning environment, such as a classroom, is problematic as the target language experienced beyond the classroom has different dynamics.

So, in this paper, we will focus our attention on emotions experienced by our participants through interpersonal interactions in their social context. Also we will specifically focus on the impact of particular language learning experiences on the participants’ emotions and how these subjective perceptions mediate their learning trajectories. Overall, this study aims to address the nature of emotional experiences and their role in shaping the participants’ perception of themselves as language learners and users. It contributes to the relevant literature by investigating and providing insights into the actual experiences of learners studying abroad.

THE STUDY
Participants
Five tertiary level students from the University of Oxford participated in this study. They were studying Turkish in Oriental Studies program at the time of the study. The participants comprised of three male and two female students with the age range of 19 - 24. Due to the space limitations only the data coming from the two of the participants, who were randomly selected, were discussed in this paper. They were referred to as P1 (22 year-old male) and P2 (21 year-old female) in the presentation of the findings. Both of the participants were British and they were studying Turkish with subsidiary Persian at the time of the study. As a narrative research of experience, our aim in this study is to include in-depth details about the individuals’ emotional reactions and the setting or context of these experiences rather than making generalizations.

Context of the study
The ‘Turkish with subsidiary language degree BA program’ at Oriental Studies at the University of Oxford offers courses to give the students a sound foundation in modern Turkish. During the first year (three terms) of the program, the students are given an intensive Turkish course (8 hours a week), which aims to build the basic language skills for Turkish up to an upper intermediate level (B1 according to CEFR). The program also has a year-abroad component in the second year as a compulsory part of the degree. Before students set out on their year abroad, they have to attend pre-departure briefings organized by the Year Abroad Coordinator. In these briefings, the purpose of the year abroad regarding the academic objectives of the program is explained to the students. The students are also given some background to the countries to which they will be going. In order to enhance learning experiences, the Faculty encourages all students to spend more time in the country or region beyond just class attendance to immerse themselves in the culture of the country they are visiting. Upon return from the year abroad, the program continues at the third year level.

Data collection instruments
e designed our research as a qualitative study. Thus, we used the personal narratives of the learners collected via autobiographical written structured interviews. Swain (2013) states that it is in narratives – anecdotes and stories of learners’ experiences – that the centrality of emotion and its connections to cognition becomes evident. In line with this argument, the data consists of the learners’ emotional histories, which focus on the emotional responses of these learners to the language learning experiences in the host country. The interviews were conducted in accordance with the guiding research questions as listed below (see the appendix for the interview questions):

  1. What experiences do the participants encounter with in their year abroad study in the host country?
  2. How do the participants describe these experiences and the resulting emotions?
  3. How do these emerging emotions affect their relationship and orientation to the target language?
  4. How do the participants view themselves as a target language user over time in different contexts?

The interview questions were sent to the e-mail addresses of the participants two times, the first in mid-academic year, which roughly corresponds to the fourth month after the arrival of the participants in the host country, and the second at the end of the academic year. This gave us the opportunity to observe the changes in the emotions experienced by the participants throughout the academic year. During this period, there were also occasional whatsApp or Skype communications in case of need by the participant students. Although such interactions were not meant to be a part of the data collection procedure planned in advance, yet emerged spontaneously in an unstructured fashion, the content of these communications were considered as data sources since they included relevant information which served well to the purpose of the study. Yet, it should be noted that the data that was shared in this paper mainly consists of the narratives collected through the interviews.

Data analysis
We analyzed the data collectively. That is, we treated it as a single collective case. Therefore, we conducted holistic-content analysis (Ollerenshaw and Creswell, 2002). Following the repeated reading of the narratives for content analysis, at the first level, any instances where the participants mentioned their emotions were identified and then, the emerging themes regarding the collected emotions were noted down. Then, considering their topics, the themes were grouped into two categories:

  1. Themes referring to the emotions about how learners appraise their experiences in their foreign language learning trajectories
  2. Themes referring to the outcomes of the emotional experiences that shape learners’ interpretations of their current selves and imagined selves as language learners

We also examined the affective lexis that the participants drew on in expressing emotions. Because we express our feelings through words verbally, we took the terms used by the participants into consideration as reflections of emotions. The insights occurred from this aspect of the data made the impact of the emotions visible for us.

Trustworthiness
In order to achieve reliability in analyzing the data, we, as researchers, independently read the data coming from all sources and applied content analysis in order to categorize the themes emerged. After analyzing the data individually, we came together to discuss our independently generated categories in a face-to-face session where we compared and contrasted with respect to the data, and finally, through consensus, we identified the two broad categories of themes.

Ethical Considerations
The participants were informed about the study and explained that the participation was voluntary, leaving the study any time they wished was probable, and that they could ask for access to the data and the interpretations. Later on, an informed consent form that outlined the main details of the study such as research aim, data collection procedures, and the use of data was prepared.  After getting the oral consent of the volunteer students, we started data collection process.  Also in order to keep the participants anonymous, we did not use their names in data analysis, but refer them as participants instead.

FINDINGS
Themes referring to the emotions about how learners appraise their experiences in their foreign language learning trajectories
As mentioned above, the first category of themes emerged in the data relates to the learners’ appraisal of their subjective emotional experiences of language learning histories. The analysis of the data revealed that the participants encountered a range of emotional experiences, both positive and negative, as they conducted their daily lives in the host country. The participants described their emotional experiences in various ways ranging from commenting on their target language level to identifying the coping strategies they adopted for recovery. The analysis of the narratives collected in the first interview showed that in the early period of their year abroad experiences, the most dominant emotions identified by participants were frustration and disappointment. In relation to this point, P2 made the following comment:

My spoken Turkish was very weak. So frustration on not being able to communicate at all efficiently was frustrating. Moreover, I was frustrated at myself and at the process of language learning.

The authentic environment, which requires spontaneous language use for communication, caused a feeling of inadequacy in the learners. The comments also revealed that such negative emotions, like incompetency, resulted in boredom and decreased motivation in the participants:

I felt frustrated at times by the grammar points. I felt hindered in my progress. Sometimes I am wondering what I am doing here, especially as progress in Turkish isn’t always concrete visible. (P1)

I was boring myself and so had no interest in the study (P2)

The data also showed that although the setting provided the participants plentiful opportunities to use the target language, it was found out that the participants reduced, or sometimes rejected, their interactions with the locals in the host language and stayed in their comfort zone by speaking in their L1, namely English. This conscious avoidance in using Turkish is evident in P1’s comment:

I did hang out more with Erasmus people. I am hoping to change this. I have hopes that my dorm experience would involve a lot more chatting with mates in Turkish.

In the later periods of their stay in the host country, unlike the beginning stages, the participant described their emotional experiences in a more positive manner. The emotions of enjoyment, excitement and pride were expressed the most by the participants:

Unlike the beginning of my time here, I am now better in grammar. It made me more excited and enthusiastic to learn and practice Turkish (P1)

I could ask for directions, or ask for a specific thing in a shop. These aided my courage to speak more frequently (P2)

The data also highlighted the importance of emotions in forming the participants’ beliefs and attitudes toward target language. The participants’ comments demonstrated that the more positive emotional experiences they encounter the more they invest in their own language learning endeavor. The following commentary shows P2’s interest and thus investment in learning more advanced level Turkish. Having joyful experience in using Turkish in the daily exchanges, P2 decided to sign up for an advanced course in Turkish:

I took a more advanced Turkish course, which was very challenging. Whenever I learnt a fresh, new piece of grammar, it became an exhilarating experience.

The participants’ emotional experiences appeared to be in harmony with their perceived progress in the target language. Being able to maintain their life using Turkish in the host community, P1 develops a positive attitude towards the target language and the subsequent emotion experienced was positive:

I am getting more emotionally attached to Turkish.

Themes referring to the outcomes of the emotional experience that shape learners’ interpretations of their current selves and imagined selves as language learners
The second category of themes relates to participants’ interpretations of their current selves and imagined selves as language learners and users. The findings presented a clear image of the emotional experiences and their place in participants’ self-perception of themselves as language users. The analysis of the data has showed that the emotions the participants experienced when they were involved in interactions with the local people in social settings have important effects on their linguistic self-concept. The term ‘linguistic self-concept’, relates to the individual’s ‘sense of who they are as language learners and users, and their ability to negotiate personal identities through a second language’ (Benson et. al., 2012, p. 184). Related to this issue, the following quote from P1 illustrates how he positions himself as a ‘foreign’ in the host community:

 I feel foreign insofar as I don’t feel good enough to build a friendship on it. In a group of Turkish-speaking people I can’t keep up with conversation.

Feeling like an outsider because of his lack of L2 proficiency seems to affect not only P1’s linguistic self-concept, but also his perception as a confident and communicative person. Similar to P1, P2 also felt unable to express herself well in Turkish and portrayed herself as infantilized by her inability in using Turkish, as shown in the below extract:

My aim essentially is to speak less like a tourist and more like a Turkish child.

P2 positions herself as a ‘Turkish child’ due to her feeling of inadequacy in using Turkish. But in her later narratives, we observed a change in her self-descriptions. She reconstructed her identity as a ‘language learner’ within the process of development. She seems to develop an acceptance of her actual-self as a language learner/user with flaws:

I am a Welsh person learning Turkish and living in Istanbul. I am definitely a foreigner in the city, but I don’t see it in any other way than I see my hometown. I know the streets of Istanbul reasonably well now and I have a decent mental map of the city. So I am completely at home here. I know that I am living in Istanbul to better my language.

The data demonstrated that this re-formation of linguistic self-concept led the participant to a vision of imagined future self who is able to communicate in Turkish, at least in her profession, as illustrated below:

I will be a Turkish-user in terms of my career in the future.

It can be said that for P2, the desire, as well as her hope, in relation to her use of Turkish in the future motivated her as a language learner. The emotion of enjoyment was another positive emotion expressed in relation to the self-image as perceived by the participants. The following extract illustrates the enthusiasm and joy experienced by P1:

I enjoy speaking in Turkish. It surprises people to hear me speaking Turkish in France. This makes me more enthusiastic to learn and practice Turkish.

For both of the participants, their confidence in their potential future ability to use Turkish, in other terms their vision of imagined selves, contributed positively to their actual self as language learners/users. Certainly, this might be only partly connected to their emotional experiences in year abroad. Considering the fact that the participants are still continuing their formal language education in the program at their universities, their positive future-self images might reflect their expectations from the academic language study as well.

DISCUSSION
Regarding emotions, Swain (2013) says everyone is aware of them but they reflect an unspoken truth: that they have a significant impact on what has happened in the past, what is happening now, and what will happen in the future (p.195).  That is, learners perceive their language learning experiences through emotional lenses and make judgments of their achievements accordingly. To put in another way, emotional experiences of the language learners are very important as learners take them as references when self-assessing the success, or failure, of their past and present as well as their future learning practices. Garret and Young (2009) argue that it is through experiencing the world and conducting an affective appraisal of these experiences that individuals develop their own unique preferences and aversions” (p. 210). This is valid for our participants too. For example, P2, being proud of herself as she could ask for directions in Turkish, decides to enroll in a more advanced course. This means that she, on her own will, challenges herself to learn more Turkish.

The emotional experiences are also important in learners’ perception of themselves as persons. Aveni (2005) states that to learn another language is to redefine yourself publicly, socially and personally. In relation to this point, Ehrman and Dörnyei ( 1998) adds that language learning entails new thought processes, identity and values which can present a threat to learners. Following this line of argument, Aveni (2005) also claims if a learner perceive that L2 use will threaten her self-presentation, thereby increasing the discrepancy between the real self and the ideal self, he or she is less likely to use the L2 (p.18). The story of P1 illustrates this issue very well. P1 confessed that he spent almost the whole time during the first semester with Erasmus students, as it was more confortable to converse in his first language. Coleman (1997) argues that students during their year abroad move within three social circles. First, their only social interaction is English-speaking peers. Then, they socialize with international groups and last with local native-speaking groups. P1 in our study is no exception. He consciously preferred to stay in his inner circle to avoid using Turkish. He stated that as he was not able to follow the conversations in Turkish, he felt himself foreign. Aveni (2005) uses the term ‘linguistic status’ to describe the feeling of inferiority in terms of linguistic abilities. The researcher argues that linguistic status, that is the status learners feel based upon their proficiency in the L2, can effect whether or not they are going to use their L2 (p.41). Namely, learners’ willingness to get involved in communications in L2 in the year abroad program is closely related to how they view and reframe themselves through their emotional filters.

The data also highlighted the interrelation between the notion of linguistic self-concept and emotional experiences. Ellis (2004) argues that the learners’ emotional experiences often appeared to work in harmony with their linguistic self-concept. In line with this view, our data reveals that as learners’ linguistic self-concepts are developed, they are able to perceive their ability and progress better within their context. In the beginnings, P2 portrayed herself more like a Turkish child due to her inadequacy in using the language. However, as she became more competent, she reconstructed her identity as a language learner as she thought that she was consciously monitoring her use of Turkish to perfect her language. She described her learning, proudly and in full satisfaction, as a journey in constant progress.

Another aspect underlined by the study was the way in which the emotional experiences of learners affected their investment in the language learning and language use. In the initial periods of his stay in Turkey, P1 was disappointed with his progress in Turkish. He expressed that within the absence of concrete improvement in his language competence, he did not feel motivated enough. But following these first months, he observed a visible development in his knowledge of grammar. He noted that he was getting more emotionally attached to Turkish. Filling with joy, he decided to extend his language use beyond the courses he took at the university and with this aim, he coupled his new ambition with one of his hobbies, football. In the second academic semester, he joined the football club of the university with the objective of creating for himself a context where he would use Turkish while enjoying his time playing football. Namely, he invested in the target language. According to Norton (1995), investment in the target language is a bridge between the desire and the commitment to learning the language. It can be said that in the case of P1, the positive emotions experienced in language learning resulted in investment in language use. P1 took the initiative in setting a context, which he believes to be conducive to spontaneous language use. According to Meier and Daniels (2013), in year abroad programs learner agency, namely taking the responsibility of one’s own learning, is very important as learning opportunities in social environment do not appear automatically but they require making an effort in an unfamiliar and complex social situations. In line with this thought, we can infer that the positive emotional experiences of P1 supported him in making the required effort to self-direct his own learning trajectory. Before we conclude, we would like to acknowledge the fact that the findings of our study are primarily interpretive in nature. But the interpretations are grounded on the triangulation of the multiple data collected through various tools. Also, as being a narrative study, our data consists of the participants’ personal stories. Therefore, our findings cannot be generalized to other students in year abroad programs.

CONCLUSION
Coleman (2013) argues that as in other research fields, in study abroad research context too, the conceptualizations of the language learner have changed. The researcher summarizes this shift in perspective as moving from a view of learners as homogenous processors of linguistic input to a conceptualization of the learner as a ‘whole person’. This new understanding of the individual learner and its reflection in research is also mentioned in the following quote by Pavlenko and Lantolf (2000). “At this time, the research began to focus on learners as ‘individuals, with intentions, agency, affect, and histories’ (p.157).  The findings of this study also confirm the centrality of learners as individuals. The study revealed the remarkable effects of emotional experiences during year abroad. Thus, as teachers, we should direct our attention to the whole process of year abroad study including all dimensions from academic to socio-psychological factors in preparing the learners. Such advance preparation about issues such as identity construction when studying abroad or coping with negative emotions in the host environment can be valuable in helping learners to set more realistic expectations as to what they will experience in the host country. Also we should equip students with skills that develop their agency and raise their critical awareness of any barriers or constraints that might be encountered in the social context surrounding them. Therefore, we believe that, adding an emotional lens to interpret learners’ experiences abroad can help us understand why the time spent in the host country may either enhance or act as a detrimental to foreign language learning. Adopting such a perspective, this study makes a valuable contribution to our understanding of language learning abroad.

Address for correspondence:
emine.cakir@orinst.ox.ac.uk
julideinozu@gmail.com , julide.inozu@orinst.ox.ac.uk

REFERENCES

Aragao, R. 2011. Beliefs and emotions in foreign language learning, System, 39, pp.302-313.

Aveni, V. P. 2005. Study abroad and second language use. Constructing the self.  Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Benson, P., Barkhuizen, G., Bodycott, P., & Brown, J. 2012. Study abroad and the development of second language identities. Applied Linguistics Review, 3(1), pp.173–193.

Beseghi, M. 2018. Emotions and Autonomy in Foreign Language Learning at University. EL.LE, 7(2), pp.231-250.

Coleman, J. A. 1995. Residence abroad within language study. Language Teaching, 30 (1), pp. 1-20.

Coleman, J. A. 2013. Research whole people and whole lives. In: Kinginger, C. ed. Language learning and study abroad: A critical reading of research. 2009. Basingstoke: Palgrave MacMillan, pp.17–44.

Ehrman, M. E. and Dörnyei, Z. 1998. Interpersonal dynamics in the second language classroom. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.

Ellis, R. 2004. Individual differences in second language learning. In: Davies A. and Elder, C. eds. The handbook of applied linguistics. Oxford: Blackwell, pp. 525-551.

Garret, P. and Young, R. F. (2009) Theorizing affect in foreign language learning: an analysis of one learner’s responses to a communicative Portuguese course. The Modern Language Journal, 93 (2), 209-226.

Imai, Y. 2010. Emotions in SLA: New insights from collaborative learning for an EFL classroom. Modern Language Journal,  94 (2), pp.278-292.

Isabelli-Garcia, C. (2006). Study abroad social networks, motivation and attitudes: implications for second language acquisition. In M. A. DuFon & E. Churchill (Eds), Language learners in study abroad contexts (pp. 231-258). Multilingual Matters.

Ivaz, L. Costa, A. and J.A. Dunabeitia. 2016. The Emotional Impact of Being Myself: Emotions and Foreign-Language Processing. Journai of Experimental Psychology, 42(3), pp. 489-496.

Jackson, J. (2008). Language, identity, and study abroad: Sociocultural perspectives. London,

UK: Equinox Publishing.

Lopez, M. M. 2011. Beliefs and emotions in foreign language learning. Colombia Applied Linguistic Journal, 13 (2), pp.43-59.

Lopez, M. M and M. A. F. Cardenas. 2014. Emotions and their effects in a language learning Mexican Context. System, 42, pp.298-307.

Meier, G. and Daniels, H. 2013. ‘Just not being able to make friends’: social interaction during the year abroad in modern foreign language degrees. Research Papers in Education, 28 (2), pp. 212-238.

Norton, B. 1995. Social identity, investment, and language learning. TESOL Quarterly, 29 (1), pp. 9-31.

Ollerenshaw, J.A and Creswell, J. Narrative Research: A Comparison of Two Restorying Data Analysis Approaches. Qualitative Inquiry, 8(3), pp.329-347.

Pavlenko, A. and Lantolf, J. P. 2000. Second language learning as participation and the (re)construction of selves. In: Lantolf, J. P. ed. Sociocultural theory and second language learning. Oxford: Oxford University Press, pp. 155–178.

Ross, A. and Rivers, D. 2018. Emotional experiences beyond the classroom: interactions with the social world. Studies in Second Language Learning and Teaching, 8 (1), pp. 103-126.

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APPENDIX

Dear All,

Just by looking back at your first year experience in Oxford and year abroad experience in Turkey, please answer the questions below. Try to answer them as in detail as you can, while your memories are still vivid and please send them back.  Don’t worry if you are not sure what to write. Write the first thing that comes to your mind.

Your help is very much appreciated and kept confidential.

Thank you

A. Your Turkish language learning experience (Past/Present)

  1. How has your year abroad experience been so far? In broader terms.
  2. Do you think you have improved your Turkish after completing the intensive one-year here in Oxford? Can you give specific examples?
  3. During the process of developing your Turkish have you found anything interesting or challenging?
  4. How did you make sense of the experiences in learning/improving/ using Turkish? Can you give specific examples?
  5. Do you feel that you have improved your Turkish compared to last year?

B. Your relationship and orientation to Turkish

  1. How do you see the Turkish language? Where does it exactly stay in your life? Has it become your language for education only, or language for life, entertainment, travel, shopping, football etc.)
  2. Do you feel Turkish is still ‘foreign’ to you?
  3. Do you see yourself as just learners of Turkish or users or both?
  4. Have you started to ‘feel’ in Turkish? (speak to yourself, dream in target language, sing, react etc.J

C. Your view of yourself as a Turkish-user in the past, present and future

  1. How do you see yourself as a Turkish-user over time in different contexts?
  2. How do you view your identity within your current situation?
  3. To what extent do you see or sense any conflict between you and any other people or situations? Do you sometimes feel what am I doing here (year abroad)?
  4. How do you imagine yourself using Turkish in the future, and what kind of Turkish, in what context do you see yourself using it?

D. The emotions you experience

  1. What emotions have you felt in your year abroad?
  2. Which of the emotions you have mentioned above did you feel the most strongly?
  3. Why did you feel this way? What are the reasons?
  4. How did this effect your motivation to learn Turkish?
  5. How did you cope with this problem(s)?

Please feel free to add anything you would like say. Kolay gelsin 🙂