Study abroad is now both an international industry and an experience that can have a deep impact on students' attitudes and approaches to second language learning. Narratives of Second Language Identity in Study Abroad brings together three important research areas by exploring the impact of study abroad on second language identities through narrative research. It outlines a new model of second language identity that incorporates a range of language and personal competencies. The three main dimensions of this model are explored in chapters that begin with students' study abroad narratives,...

A focus on learner individuality in Applied Linguistics has been considered a mark of theoretical weakness from several perspectives. One branch of second language acquisition research has systematically discounted individual characteristics in favour of a search for universal acquisition processes. Another has adopted 'individual differences' as its object of inquiry, but emphasises psychological and sociological group characteristics over those of individuals. At the other end of the spectrum, critical researchers have viewed these approaches as 'individualistic' and have emphasised instead...