The Year Abroad experience from the personal perspective of two UK language undergraduates in Italy: affective challenges, coping strategies and the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic

Study Abroad (SA) can be a challenging experience in many ways. Despite the considerable body of research, SA studies have traditionally had a linguistic focus, concentrating on a limited range of SA contexts (2013b) and neglecting the investigation of the affective aspects of SA experiences until recently (Aragão, 2011). By having a holistic and relational approach, I view my participants as ‘whole people-in-context’ (Coleman, 2013; Ushioda, 2009), moving away from the limiting and disembodying conceptualisation of sojourners, and broadening my focus beyond the linguistic element of SA.
This thesis explores the Year Abroad (YA) experiences of two UK language undergraduates who went to Italy as teaching assistants during the 2019/2020 academic year. The main focus of this qualitative longitudinal case study is on the affective challenges the participants faced during their months in the host country, and the coping strategies they adopted in response to such challenges. A particularly under-researched aspect this thesis investigates is the impact that pre-departure beliefs can have on the way the YA experiences are perceived and the consequent implications this can have for sojourners and institutions. Rich and in-depth data was collected over the course of 14 months via an initial questionnaire, three semi-structured interviews at different stages, and more frequent exchanges via messages or video calls (‘the Buddy System’). As my research was caught in the middle of the outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic, its effects are interwoven in this thesis.
My participants’ experiences revealed the ongoing development of their beliefs and identity, alongside their troubled language journeys, also providing unique insights into the impact the pandemic had on their YA experience. By looking at the findings through the framework of cognitive dissonance theory (Festinger, 1957) and complementing it with a holistic and ecological approach to my participants’ accounts, my research offers a new lens for the investigation of SA experiences and proposes a re-conceptualisation of ‘culture shock’ and a new model of liquid acculturation (Dervin, 2011).