After Study Abroad: Identity Maintanance

After Study Abroad: The Maintenance
of Multilingual Identity Among

Anglophone Languages Graduates
ROSAMOND MITCHELL,1 NICOLE TRACY–VENTURA,2 and AMANDA HUENSCH3
1
University of Southampton, Modern Languages and Linguistics, Southampton, SO17 1BJ, United Kingdom
Email: R.F.Mitchell@soton.ac.uk
2
West Virginia University, World Languages, Literatures, and Linguistics, Chitwood Hall 217D, Morgantown,
West Virginia, 26506 Email: nicole.tracyventura@mail.wvu.edu
3
University of South Florida, Department of World Languages, 4202 E. Fowler Ave, CPR 107, Tampa, FL, 33620,
United States Email: huensch@usf.edu
For L2 learners from English-dominant societies, study abroad (SA) is an especially significant opportu-
nity for linguistic, sociocultural, and personal development. Less is known about the durability of these
SA-related developments, once Anglophone language specialists complete their home studies and then
progress to graduate careers. This article reports a study of 33 specialist languages graduates from a
UK university, 3 years postgraduation, who had previously participated in a longitudinal study tracking
their linguistic, social, and personal development through a 2-semester stay abroad. The follow-up study
gathered further data on maintenance, development, or attrition of their principal SA-related second
language (L2); on social and professional uses of L2 and other languages; and on attitudes and be-
liefs relating to language identity. Personal biographies and career pathways were documented through
questionnaires and interviews. This article provides insights into the career entry and related ongoing
development of linguistic identity among Anglophone languages graduates, including the ongoing im-
pact of SA-related influences. Implications are briefly drawn for management of the SA experience and
post-SA education, so as to support participants’ ambitions for interculturality and a full multilingual
identity.
Keywords: study abroad; identity; multilingualism; careers
IN A WORLD OF HYPERCENTRAL ENGLISH communities—albeit one associated ideologically

(de Swaan, 2001) it is unsurprising that most re- with power, mobility, and success. Against this
search on language learning and development global backdrop, many L1 English speakers are
is biased toward English, including research on more or less contented monolinguals. Nonethe-
learner motivation and identity (Boo, Dörnyei, less, a minority of Anglophone young people are
& Ryan, 2015; Dörnyei & Al–Hoorie, 2017; Nor- attracted to additional language learning and the
ton, 2017). In many settings, an increasing knowl- adoption of a multilingual identity during their
edge of English is simply an additional element formal education. Their motivation for sustained
within dynamic multilingual social networks and language learning is distinctive, commonly arising
from a wish to be ‘different,’ together with a sense
The Modern Language Journal, 104, 2, (2020)
of self-efficacy arising from positive early class-
DOI: 10.1111/modl.12636 room experiences with languages, rather than
0026-7902/20/327–344 $1.50/0 from the instrumental motivations that support
C National Federation of Modern Language Teachers much learning of L2 English (Busse, 2013; Lan-
Associations vers, 2017; Thompson, 2017). For such learn-
This is an open access article under the terms of the Cre- ers who progress to specialist language programs
ative Commons Attribution License, which permits use, in higher education, study abroad (SA) offers
distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided an enrichment experience that can have pow-
the original work is properly cited. erful destabilizing effects on linguistic identity
15404781, 2020, 2, Downloaded from https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/modl.12636, Wiley Online Library on [11/11/2023]. See the Terms and Conditions (https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/terms-and-conditions) on Wiley Online Library for rules of use; OA articles are governed by the applicable Creative Commons License
328 The Modern Language Journal 104 (2020)
(Block, 2007). Positive outcomes may include the “Identities are manifested in language as, first,
transformation of participants’ self-perception the categories and labels that people attach to
from that of language learner to multilingual user, themselves and others to signal their belonging;
reinforcement of their international orientation, second, as the indexed ways of speaking and
and openness to other cultures or to third spaces behaving through which they perform their
(Kinginger, 2009; Oakes, 2013; Plews, 2015; Tul- belonging; and third, as the interpretations that
lock, 2018). Study abroad participants may also re- others make of those indices” (pp. 19–20). These
act less positively, developing a heightened sense different roles for language are all relevant to
of national identity, rejecting local norms, such the potentially identity-disrupting SA experience,
as concerning gendered relations, and/or accept- and subsequent evolutions of identity during
ing locals’ positioning of them as foreigners and entry to postgraduate careers.
outsiders (Kinginger, 2013). Retrospective surveys
of Anglophone SA participants generally show, Language Identities of Instructed Learners
however, that it is recollected as a life-changing,
coming-of-age experience (Coleman & Chafer, Sociolinguistics has shown how different iden-
2011; Mulvaney, 2017). tities can be expressed through styles, varieties,
These languages specialists, their evolving lin- and linguistic practices within one language as
guistic identities, and their eventual career desti- well as through multilingual resources (McEntee–
nations are of particular interest, given frequently Atalianis, 2019). Our particular concern in this
expressed policy concerns about the decline of article is with the development of identity in
language skills in English-dominant communi- response to the instructed learning of one or
ties, together with perceived societal needs for more additional languages, and an associated stay
such skills to promote trade and economic devel- abroad, which we will be calling multilingual iden-
opment, security, and intercultural communica- tity; other related terms in the literature include
tion (British Academy, 2019; Commission on Lan- second language identity (Benson et al., 2013),
guage Learning, 2017). This article explores the plurilingual identity (Beacco, 2005), and multilin-
character of language identity among such Anglo- gual subject (Kramsch, 2009). A range of sugges-
phones, once their formal education including an tions have been made as to how such instructed
extended SA period has been completed and as learner identities can be defined. As their initial
they enter the world of work and adult life. working definition, Benson et al. (2013) proposed
that “second language identity refers to any aspect
of a person’s identity that is connected to their
CURRENT PERSPECTIVES ON LANGUAGE knowledge or use of a second language” (p. 28).
AND IDENTITY Fuller elaborations of this definition are discussed
Identity: Poststructuralist Perspectives in following sections.
Other researchers introduce varied suggestions
Conceptualizations of identity in the applied as to how the language identity of instructed
linguistics literature have been greatly influenced learners may develop. Many refer to a basic dis-
by poststructuralist perspectives that view identity tinction between the identity of L2 learner and
as evolving, dynamic, and performative (Block, that of L2 user. Henry (2017) related different
2007; Duff, 2012; Norton, 2014, 2017; Preece, possibilities for identity development to the L2
2016). The structural categories prominent in motivational self system of Dörnyei (2009), equat-
older accounts of identity (age, gender, social ing the identity self-concept with Dörnyei’s ideal
class, ethnicity) are not ignored, but greater scope L2 self. Based on his studies with Swedish high
is acknowledged for individual agency in shap- school students learning English and other ad-
ing identity, and its ongoing construction in inter- ditional languages (Henry, 2011), Henry (2017)
action (McEntee–Altalianis, 2019). For the post- argued that the privileged status of English, in
structuralist sociolinguists Bucholtz and Hall, for combination with students’ perceptions of their
example, identity is viewed as “the social position- own more advanced capabilities in English, may
ing of the self and others” (2005, p. 586); it is lead to development of what he calls a “content-
“inherently relational, and will always be partial, edly bilingual” self, that is, “someone comfort-
produced through contextually situated and ide- able and confident in speaking their native lan-
ologically informed configurations of the self and guage (e.g., Swedish) and the currently dominant
other” (p. 605). global language (English), but not perceiving any
Language itself is highly relevant to such additional need or having any particular inter-
conceptualizations. As Joseph (2016) put it: est in speaking another language” (Henry, 2017,
Rosamond Mitchell, Nicole Tracy–Ventura, and Amanda Huensch 329
p. 553). Henry (2017) recognized the possible ex- tings. However, the framework is of wider applica-
istence of separate selves associated with each lan- tion, and we draw on it in our own analysis.
guage being learned; in the case of a contentedly
bilingual identity, the selves are in competition, Development of Linguistic Identity During Study
and energy invested in learning English detracts Abroad: Empirical Studies
from motivation and effort with respect to any
third language (L3). Concerning the formation of linguistic iden-
As an alternative, Henry (2017) argued that tity during SA, research with non-Anglophone
the different language selves may reinforce each participants has focused largely on the develop-
other, leading to emergence of a superordinate ment of L2 English identity. As mentioned, Ben-
ideal multilingual self. This will in turn reinforce son et al. (2013) developed their model of the L2
motivation for learning a (non-English) L3, as stu- self for Hong Kong students undertaking SA in
dents holding a multilingual identity will be keen Anglophone settings. In Europe, Kalocsai (2013)
to level up their different language proficiencies has described the development of an Erasmus
(Henry, 2017). Henry sees the multilingual self as community of practice among international stu-
ultimately transcending “language-specific identi- dents in a Hungarian university, and their unify-
ties and concerns,” in the life of a multilingual ing adoption of English as a lingua franca (ELF).
person (p. 561). Here, he echoed an earlier argu- Other European researchers have described sim-
ment of Kramsch (2009): “Each of the languages ilar communities, and their role in shifting par-
we speak adds its unique dimension to our signify- ticipant identities from that of English learner to
ing self that, in its efforts to maintain its autonomy, English user (Dervin, 2013; Kaypak & Ortaçtepe,
its continuity and coherence, struggles to become 2014; Mas Alcolea, 2017, 2018; Virkkula & Nikula,
a multilingual subject” (p. 188). 2010). Among these studies, that of Virkkula &
Nikula (2010) was continued by Räisänen (2016),
Conceptualizing Language Identities During Study who tracked the transition of the original SA
Abroad participants (Finnish trainee engineers in Ger-
many) over an 8-year period, into professional
In discussions of identity among SA partic- life. This exceptional longitudinal study docu-
ipants, traditional identity categories are fore- mented how the participants became confident
grounded by some scholars, such as work on na- professional users of Business English as a lin-
tional identity (Jackson, 2008; Plews, 2015), or gua franca (BELF), managing multicultural teams
gender (Kinginger, 2008; Trentman, 2015). Oth- through English. A contrasting study of Chinese
ers stress the transition from L2 learner identity to sojourners in Germany by Maeder–Qian (2018)
that of L2 user (Mas Alcolea, 2017, 2018; Virkkula described participants who mostly found it very
& Nikula, 2010). More elaborated proposals have hard to penetrate local student networks, and
been made by Benson et al. (2013), who iden- whose sense of cultural distance became consol-
tified three possible dimensions of L2 identity idated over time. While coming from varied re-
that may develop through SA: identity-related L2 gions of China, they mostly associated increas-
proficiency, linguistic self-concept, and L2-related ingly with other Chinese sojourners, developing
personal competence. By identity-related L2 pro- a heightened sense of a shared national identity,
ficiency, they refer to the development of the so- and shared linguistic identity expressed through
ciopragmatic and interactional competence that Mandarin. Only a small minority in the group de-
will allow sojourners to function as a competent veloped clear user identities for either ELF or Ger-
person and project a desired identity, for exam- man.
ple, as a polite person and serious student, or as a These Europe-based studies of non-
fun young person. By linguistic self-concept, they Anglophones are still relatively few in number,
refer to reflexive identity, including one’s sense of small in scale, and mostly limited in focus to
self-efficacy and status as an L2 learner and/or L2 L2 English. However they illustrate some com-
user, language affiliations, beliefs, and emotional plexities of the linguistic experience of SA in
factors; by L2-related personal competence, they multilingual settings, and a range of possible
capture sojourners’ sense of independence and outcomes in terms of linguistic identity.
agency, for example, as a problem-solver and in- Regarding Anglophone sojourners, a number
tercultural actor. This framework was developed of researchers have investigated the impact of SA
with reference to L2 English, and Benson et al. on identity. Kinginger (2013) reviewed their find-
applied it to analyze the narratives of Hong Kong ings, concerning traditional identity categories
student sojourners in a range of Anglophone set- of gender, nationality and ‘foreigner’ status,
ethnicity, and linguistic inheritance (Tullock, certificate; instead it is best viewed as emergent,
2018, presents a similar review). Kinginger dynamic, and requiring continuous (re-)warranty
agreed with Block (2007) that the SA experience by ongoing practices and identifications evolving
potentially disrupts the cultural habitus of partic- through interactions in the workplace.
ipants. Some react by engaging actively with local Higher education researchers comment addi-
norms and practices and embrace a third space tionally on the phenomenon of graduate under-
(intercultural) identity; this is reflected in their employment, that is, graduates accepting jobs
L2 interactional competence (Brown, 2013). that have not traditionally required high-level
Even when positioned as ‘foreigners’ by locals, professional skills. Again, they explain this phe-
participants may view this as an opportunity and nomenon with reference to the mass nature of
exploit it to develop local contacts (Du, 2015). contemporary higher education, and the flexi-
Others, however, cannot adapt to local practices, ble labor markets of the United Kingdom (and
for example, in gender relations, or in foreigner United States), where graduates may move in and
positioning (Iino, 2006), and may retreat into out of such lower-level employment prior to (or as
an enhanced national identity (Kinginger, 2016; an alternative to) settling into more stable profes-
Wilkinson, 1998). Both Kinginger (2013) and Tul- sional careers (HESA, 2017; Vigurs et al., 2018).
lock (2018) acknowledged that these outcomes This is especially likely in the case of humanities
may be connected with Anglophone sojourners’ graduates (Clarke, 2018; Piróg, 2016) and helps to
typically elite socioeconomic status. They noted explain the emergent and “processual” nature of
the still-limited state of identity research, so that contemporary labor market identities (Holmes,
conclusions are generally tentative, including 2015).
those connecting identity development with the How these processes affect Anglophone or
development of multilingualism. Few of the stud- UK languages specialists in particular, may be
ies they reviewed were longitudinal, and none glimpsed through research on graduate des-
followed up the development of identity into the tinations by the UK Higher Education Statis-
post-sojourn stage; for such studies, it is necessary tics Agency (HESA). While the professions of
to turn to the general international education language teacher and interpreter/translator are
literature (see the next two sections). commonly recommended to languages graduates
as most directly using their degree skills (see, e.g.,
Identity in Transition to the Labor Market Prospects, 2017), HESA surveys provide a consid-
erably more complex picture.
Before examining research on the long-term The most recent longitudinal HESA study sur-
impact of SA, it will be helpful to briefly examine veyed 100,000 UK-domiciled former students who
contemporary graduates’ transition into work, had graduated in 2013, 3.5 years postgraduation
and the development of a so-called “labor market (HESA, 2017). Of the languages graduates in
identity” (Tomlinson, 2012) or “graduate iden- the survey,1 93% were working and/or studying
tity” (Holmes, 2015). These higher education further; median salary was somewhat below that
researchers argue that in the flexible labor mar- of graduates generally, but actual unemploy-
ket of an economy such as that of the United ment was very low. For the languages group,
Kingdom, the transition to work cannot be cap- the most popular recorded occupations were
tured by simplistic models of ‘employability,’ “Education” (32%), “Professional scientific and
which see it as the responsibility of the individual technical” (13%), and “Information and com-
graduating student to equip themselves with a munication” (11%). HESA provides a further
particular skill set, matching the requirements of breakdown of occupations, as “professional” or
professional employment (Holmes, 2013, 2015; “non-professional,” and here the languages group
Tomlinson, 2010, 2012). Instead, the transition underperformed somewhat (though similarly to
to work involves a complex negotiation between other humanities graduates). The languages
the structural requirements of the labor market, group was judged to have 78% professional
the preferences of employers (which may relate occupations, compared with 84% for graduates
to social class, ethnicity, and gender as much as to generally, and 21% non-professional occupations,
desired employee skill sets), and the exercise of compared with 15% overall. The most common
agency by the graduate, who may be influenced non-professional category was administrative and
by a variety of factors other than career ambition secretarial (11% of all occupations, compared
(e.g., emotional ties or geographical preferences, with 6% for all graduates).
K. Evans, 2007; Finn, 2017). For Holmes (2015), These findings from general higher educa-
graduate identity is not acquired with the degree tion research encourage us to expect that the
multilingual dimension of specialist languages as development of language skills were reported
graduate identity will continue to evolve in re- by languages majors (many became teachers).
sponse to labor market entry, as part of a wider on- Researchers reporting long-term post-SA sur-
going process of identity development. However, veys of Anglophones are aware of several limita-
surveys such as that of HESA cannot tell us how far tions to their approach, including various kinds
the workplace experience is likely to strengthen of response bias, the subjectivity involved in self-
or weaken that dimension, nor how far languages report, and the lack of information on whether
graduates can exercise agency to seek multilin- those choosing to study abroad had any distinc-
gual workplace (and social) experiences within tive characteristics pre-departure (e.g., a stronger
wider Anglophone society; a more focused and in- international posture than their non-SA peers).
depth approach is needed. These issues are discussed, for example, by De-
Graaf et al. (2013), who advocated a more system-
Study Abroad and Identity: Follow-Up Studies atic approach including longitudinal tracking of
particular cohorts. The study reported here sets
Some insights into the longer-term impact of out to address some of these concerns, on a small
SA on the identity of Anglophones are available scale, by following a well-studied group of under-
in the international education literature. A num- graduate languages specialists and SA participants
ber of international education researchers in the into their adult life and early careers. Two re-
United Kingdom and United States have traced search questions are posed:
participants some years following their sojourn
abroad, to survey perceptions of the impact of SA
on the later life course (Alred & Byram, 2006; RQ1. What are the career pathways, social net-
Coleman & Chafer, 2011; DeGraaf et al., 2013; works, and language practices of Anglo-
Dwyer, 2004; Mulvaney, 2017; Nunan, 2006; Potts, phone specialist languages graduates,
2015). While these studies do not directly address 3 years postgraduation?
the development of identity post-SA, they report RQ2. What are the language identities
a range of relevant outcomes including impact claimed by specialist graduates, and how
on careers, on personal development, on interna- were these shaped by their educational
tional posture, and intercultural orientation. For experience, including an academic year
example, Mohajeri Norris and Gillespie (2009) re- abroad?
ported a survey mailed in 2002 to 14,000 gradu-
ates of SA programs between 1950 and 1999. They THE LANGUAGES AND SOCIAL NETWORKS
had 3,700 respondents, who claimed significant ABROAD PROJECT FOLLOW-UP STUDY:
influences of SA on many aspects of life including PARTICIPANTS AND DESIGN
career choice:
Participants
Living and studying in another country engage and The 33 participants in this study were languages
affect participants’ personal development, world- graduates of a UK research-intensive university.
view, and intellectual and cultural interests, influenc-
Three participants reported a bilingual per-
ing their future decisions. The data demonstrate a se-
quence of decisions that students make, beginning
sonal biography (Finnish, Polish, or Welsh plus
with the resolution to study abroad, that correlates English). The rest were monolingual speakers
with the lasting effect of developing a career with a of English at home, who had already chosen
global focus. (Mohajeri Norris & Gillespie, p. 395) to become language specialists at high school.
At university they had made a further positive
DeGraaf et al. (2013) compared SA partici- choice to study French and/or Spanish to degree
pants from one particular university with similar level, in combination with cultural or linguistic
alumni who had not sojourned abroad. They studies, or other languages (e.g., German), or a
found that the SA participants had a somewhat humanities or social science subject (e.g., history
stronger international posture and intercul- or business). Other studies of British languages
tural engagement than nonparticipants. As in specialists have attributed the decision to study
other studies, the SA respondents were almost languages at university to intrinsic enjoyment
universally enthusiastic about their experience, of languages at school, a sense of self-efficacy as
reporting a profound influence on personal language learners, an international posture, and
development. DeGraaf et al. also provided some sense of distinctiveness compared with monoglot
breakdown by academic major; the strongest Anglophones (Busse & Williams, 2010; Oakes,
influences of SA regarding career choice as well 2013; Stolte, 2015). The participants in this study
reported similar motivations. Their BA program in personal independence, and increased aware-
lasted 4 years, including a compulsory third year ness of other culture(s), and almost all reported
abroad in France, Spain, or Mexico, which, in openness to future mobility.
line with traditional British practice, might be
spent studying at a partner university, working as The Follow-Up Study
a language assistant in a school or college, or as a
workplace intern. The LANGSNAP participants graduated from
university in 2013. In summer 2016, all partici-
The Languages and Social Networks Abroad Project pants were invited to contribute to the follow-up
study reported here,3 and 33 of them agreed.
As students, the participants had all taken part In the follow-up study, participants completed
in a larger (n = 56) longitudinal study track- the same full set of language assessments as in
ing their social, personal, and linguistic develop- LANGSNAP, further questionnaires, and an L1 in-
ment over a 21-month period. This was the 2011– terview. Linguistic findings are reported by Huen-
2013 Languages and Social Networks Abroad sch et al. (2019) and Tracy–Ventura, Huensch, &
(LANGSNAP) project, (Mitchell, Tracy–Ventura, Mitchell (2020). Overall, results show that general
& McManus, 2017).2 In the course of LANGSNAP, L2 proficiency, oral fluency, and lexis achieved
participants completed a range of language tests, at the conclusion of SA had been maintained by
background questionnaires, and interviews on six a majority, 3 years postgraduation. Quantitative
occasions before, during, and following SA. They analysis showed that the level of proficiency
generally made substantial linguistic progress (in immediately post-SA was a significant predictor
fluency, accuracy, and lexis, though less so in of maintenance of L2 accuracy, while the degree
complexity), and sustained this following the re- of L2 exposure postgraduation predicted mainte-
turn to academic study at home. Findings also nance of L2 fluency (Huensch et al., 2019). In this
confirmed participants’ linguistic self-concept as article, we provide a more detailed qualitative ex-
distinctive “language people” (C. Evans, 1988), ploration of the participants’ life course postgrad-
and the general evolution of participants’ iden- uation, and their patterns of engagement with
tity over time from L2 learner to L2 user. It ap- languages, to address our two research questions.
peared that they were aspiring in most cases to a
flexible multilingual identity (Henry, 2017), com- Instrumentation
patible with a mobile future life and career, rather
than to an integrationist bilingual identity with We address these questions primarily through
prime loyalty to French or Spanish. For exam- analysis of questionnaire findings, triangulated
ple, participants regularly sought opportunities with analysis of individual interviews conducted
to learn additional central or supercentral lan- with participants.
guages even when abroad (e.g., German, Italian,
Language Engagement Questionnaire. This ques-
or Chinese). Regarding identity-related L2 profi-
tionnaire was developed for repeated use in the
ciency, they were very motivated to develop oral
LANGSNAP project and is available in the IRIS
fluency, including more informal spoken regis-
repository (Marsden, Mackey, & Plonsky, 2016).
ters of French or Spanish, and were comfortable
Participants are invited to identify all languages
about translanguaging practices with other inter-
that they use regularly, and then complete a sepa-
national interlocutors. With some exceptions they
rate questionnaire section for each. The question-
were less interested in fully mastering academic
naire lists a selection of activities, both face-to-face
registers of French or Spanish; their student iden-
and online, from home life, academic study, and
tity was somewhat weakened during SA by com-
leisure, and invites respondents to identify how
parison with their international sojourner iden-
frequently they undertake each activity in a given
tity (though it revived strongly on return to the
language, on a 6-point scale. LANGSNAP expe-
home university). In most cases they showed little
rience showed that this questionnaire provides a
interest in learning regional languages encoun-
meaningful picture of relative frequency of use, by
tered abroad (e.g., Basque or Catalan); the ex-
language and by activity (see Mitchell et al., 2017).
ceptions were those participants who had formed
A screenshot of the Spanish page is included in
very close personal relations with locals in multi-
the Appendix.
lingual regions (e.g., a Mayan-speaking romantic
partner in Mexico or Valencian Catalan-speaking Background Questionnaire. This questionnaire
work colleagues in Spain). Regarding L2-related was newly developed from the questionnaire
personal competence, all reported strong growth of Mehotcheva (2010). It captured information
regarding key aspects of participants’ life course language learning), and partly from the Benson
postgraduation: further study (including any fur- et al. (2013) identity framework (e.g., comments
ther language study), jobs, personal relationships on priorities regarding L2 proficiency, on the
(including those involving bi- or multilingual in- linguistic self-concept, on personal competence
teraction), and travel patterns. The questionnaire deriving from study abroad). So that qualitative
also explored participants’ current linguistic self- findings could be related more easily to the quan-
concept and perceptions of their own language titative questionnaire findings, qualitative analysis
proficiency, through both closed and open ques- relevant to RQ1 was also summarized in an Excel
tions. Participants’ written responses to the open spreadsheet providing brief overviews for each
questions were analyzed thematically; the full participant of employment history, further study,
background questionnaire is available in Support- social networking, travel, and language learning.
ing Information A. The account of findings for RQ1 given in the next
section draws primarily on the questionnaire anal-
Interviews. Participants also completed two in-
ysis plus participant overviews; for RQ2, findings
dividual semi-structured interviews with a mem-
derive from the identity-related coding, and are
ber of the research team, one in English, and the
illustrated by representative interview quotations.
other in French or Spanish. Before these inter-
views, the research team members reread relevant
LANGSNAP interview material, so as to follow up CAREER PATHWAYS, SOCIAL NETWORKS,
appropriately on relevant personal information. AND LANGUAGE PRACTICES 3 YEARS
The L2 interviews (L2I) served a double pur- POSTGRADUATION
pose, providing a current sample of participants’
interactive proficiency, and also providing sub- Early Career Development
stantive information on topics similar to the first
Upon graduation in 2013, it seemed that en-
part of the background questionnaire, that is, ac-
try to the labor market was not straightforward
tivities and relationships since graduation, plans
for these specialists in languages. Frequent job
and intentions for the future, and participants’
changes and interruptions to employment were
retrospective perspective on their decision to
reported. For example, seven participants re-
study languages. The L1 reflective interviews (RI)
ported having taught English as a foreign lan-
sought fuller information on participants’ expe-
guage (TEFL) at some point since graduation,
riences of travel, personal relationships, and lan-
though by 2016, only two were still doing this.
guage use patterns, and invited them to reflect
A minority were currently making major life
on their current proficiency in their various lan-
choices: to train as a nurse, or as a music teacher,
guages and on their language use patterns, as
or to emigrate (to Canada, in two cases). Five
well as on their past SA experience. The interview
participants had undertaken further postgradu-
guides are included in Supporting Information B
ate study at the master’s level (and one of these
and C.
had proceeded to a PhD in international develop-
ment). Three had completed a Postgraduate Cer-
Data Analysis tificate in Education (the main qualifying route
to teaching in the United Kingdom), and several
Quantitative data from the two questionnaires others obtained TEFL qualifications; one took
was entered into IBM SPSS Statistics 25. All in- a journalism course. Most were now UK-based,
terview data (L2I and RI) were orthographically though a striking amount of international travel
transcribed. All qualitative data (the interview had been undertaken postgraduation; 17 people
data plus responses to open questions in the back- reported trips outside Europe, including 6 who re-
ground questionnaire) were imported into the ported trips of 6 months or more, and most of the
qualitative data analysis package NVivo 12 (Jack- rest had travelled within Europe, with only 3 par-
son & Bazeley, 2019). As a first step, to facilitate ticipants reporting no foreign travel since gradu-
focused reading and rereading of the material, ation. Some of this travel involved paid employ-
all interview data were autocoded by main inter- ment or workplace internships (n = 19), though
view question. A set of thematic codes was then typically this involved short-term TEFL or other
developed inductively for use in more detailed relatively low-status, temporary work. Seven were
analysis of the qualitative material, deriving partly living abroad at the time of the 2016 interviews,
from the topics addressed in the questionnaires in Spain (two), Belgium (two), Australia, France,
(e.g., qualitative comments and elaborations and Canada; the PhD candidate was studying in
on employment histories, on foreign travel, on her Nordic home country.
By 2016, all participants had undertaken some sic); around one third of the group reported en-
form of paid employment; at the time of inter- gaging in these activities at least weekly. Other
view, just seven were not currently working, and more extensive types of reading and writing were
three of these were doing job-related training. rarer, though not absent. The subgroup who
However, only a small minority (n = 7) were com- reported currently using their languages most
mitted to graduate-level professional careers in- regularly in face-to-face interaction were those
volving active regular use of their L2(s) (three currently living in France, Spain, Belgium, and
languages teachers, one qualified interpreter, one Canada (Quebec) (n = 6); the three teachers (ob-
trainee diplomat, one prospective bilingual jour- viously) also reported regular classroom use of
nalist, and one Barcelona-based business relations languages.
manager).4 A number of others had embarked on Information on participants’ social networks
long-term graduate-level careers in English jour- and related patterns of language use since grad-
nalism, finance or business management, or pub- uation was drawn from the background ques-
lic administration; this group reported no profes- tionnaire and from interview analysis. Nineteen
sional use of their L2 skills. A further group were people reported a current romantic relationship,
working in private-sector jobs, where prospects including five with international partners, though
for long-term career development were less clear; only one was maintaining an international re-
these included marketing, office administration, lationship established during SA in Mexico.
Web site development, and events management. Four described their partner as their fiancé(e),
Several from this group reported multilingual though none had yet married. Regarding living
practices at work (e.g., managing international arrangements, eight participants were living with
events or supporting multilingual Web services for their parents; most others were sharing rented ac-
a company or a community). It seems there is a commodation with similar-aged peers, who might
tier of subprofessional multilingual job opportu- include their partner or friends from university,
nities available, which these specialist graduates while just one participant owned their home. Like
could actively seek out, apart from more formally their shifting employment patterns, these living
structured graduate careers with large companies arrangements reflected the lengthy transition to
or government. independent adulthood characteristic of contem-
porary humanities graduates, and the continuing
Social Engagement and Language Practices centering of social networks on same-aged peers.
Regarding social networking with L2 speakers,
Overall, if temporary TEFL jobs are included, only a small minority had maintained local friend-
a large majority of participants (n = 27) reported ships arising from SA, though rather more had re-
in interviews that they had had some form of work visited the country of their sojourn. One partici-
experience involving languages. A substantial mi- pant (160) was now engaged to his SA Mexican
nority (n = 13) also reported attempts to learn girlfriend, and 173 had maintained a strong re-
or further develop additional languages. These lationship with his sojourn host family and other
ranged from participants who needed an addi- local friends. Overall, participants were somewhat
tional language for work (e.g., in order to teach more likely to report ongoing contacts with inter-
Spanish alongside French, to undertake event national peers met during SA. However, most par-
management in Germany, or with a more distant ticipants (n = 23) also reported having made new
view of working for a nongovernmental organiza- L2-speaking or multilingual contacts since gradu-
tion), to those who ‘picked up’ some phrases in ation.
a local language while travelling (e.g., Quechua Regarding patterns of language use, a large
during a Latin American trip). majority (n = 25) reported in the background
Table 1 presents summarized findings from questionnaire that they were currently using L2
the Language Engagement Questionnaire (LEQ) less than during the sojourn abroad. Analyzing
concerning current use of French and Spanish both questionnaire and interview data from a
(n = 27). Seven participants also reported use longitudinal perspective, Huensch et al. (2019)
of a further language: Italian (2), German (2), judged 12 participants to have experienced
Finnish, Polish, and Welsh, the last three being intensive exposure to L2 over the period since
languages of home and family. graduation, based on criteria of having lived in
The table shows that digital media were the an L2-using country for lengthy periods of time,
most popular means of accessing and using having an L2-speaking partner (currently or in
French and Spanish (internet browsing, social the past), and/or having extensive experience
media, texting, instant messaging, listening to mu- of using L2 at work. Additional to these were the
TABLE 1
Reported Current L2 Use, Language Engagement Questionnaire (n = 27)
French (n = 16)a Spanish (n = 11)
At Least Monthly/ At Least Monthly/

Activity Weekly Rarely Never Weekly Rarely Never
Watch TV 3 8 5 2 7 2
Watch films 0 16 0 0 11 0
Browse the internet 7 8 1 6 5 0
Use social networking 6 8 2 7 4 0
Read/write emails 4 11 1 3/2 7/8 1
Listen to music 7 7 2 7 4 0
Listen to talk radio 2 7 7 0 6 5
Listen to lectures 0 14 2 0 1 11
Participate in seminars/language classes 0 6 10 0 0 11
Read literature (e.g., fiction, poetry, short 3 10 3 0 9 2
stories)
Read academic texts 0 5 11 0 2 9
Read newspapers 2 11 3 0 7 4
Read magazines 2 9 5 0 8 3
Read/write text messages 5 6 5 6 5 0
Write reports (e.g., work, academic) 0 7 9 0 0 11
Write for leisure (e.g., journal) 0 4 12 0 4 7
Use instant messaging 4 8 4 6 3 2
Have phone/Skype/etc. conversations 3 7 6 1 6 4
(<5 minutes)
Have phone/Skype/etc. conversations 2 6 8 0 8 3
(> 5 minutes)
Teach a class 3 2 11 1 0 10
Engage in service encounters 3 6 7 2 9 0
Engage in small talk 6 3 7 6 4 1
Engage in long casual conversations 4 10 2 5 5 1
Participate in organized social activities 2 6 8 2 3 6
Have meetings 2 6 8 1 3 7
Note. Rows are shaded where activity was also relatively infrequent in English.
a Includes one member of the Spanish group, who was now living in Quebec and using French rather than Spanish
in daily life.
three schoolteachers of French or Spanish, who Graduates’ Identity-Related L2 Proficiency

had rather limited language exposure beyond the
classroom. Four participants reported essentially Concerning identity-related L2 proficiency,
no exposure since graduation; Huensch et al. those actively using different languages in the
(2019) described the remainder as having limited workplace made interview comments5 describing
exposure. This group included people who had varied needs for oral fluency:
visited L2-using countries for shorter holidays,
but otherwise made little use of L2 apart from EXCERPT 1
occasional social/leisure contacts and uses of (Participant 125, events manager, L2I)
digital media (see Table 1).
So I found a job with a company which organizes big
exhibitions and conferences. My role was to talk to
MULTILINGUAL IDENTITIES CLAIMED AND people on the phone and persuade them to attend
SHAPED BY PAST EDUCATIONAL the exhibitions, which I found very hard at first, be-
EXPERIENCE cause I had to speak French. It was for the French
veterinary market. There was a large veterinary ex-
Our analysis of the interview and questionnaire hibition in Paris, and I had to call up vets and say
data for insights into participants’ identity devel- “it’s a great idea, you must come to this show” ( …)
opment follows the framework of Benson et al. I didn’t like it at all, I was a bit ashamed to be speak-
(2013). ing to them. But luckily after three months I was
transferred into another department, ( …) and there EXCERPT 5
I worked 50% at the exhibitions in France, and 50% (Participant 157, university administrator, RI)
at the exhibitions in London. That was okay, I en-
joyed it and I learned a lot, I would say I was working So I want to go on holiday to Spain, and I want to
like that for around 18 months. be able to. So if we’re looking at places to go, (.)
I’ve got a habit of prioritizing Spanish speaking ar-
eas um ( …), I feel more confident being able to be
EXCERPT 2
in a foreign place because it won’t be that foreign.
(Participant 152, business startup, Barcelona,
and then also I’ll be able to get by ( …) so yeah so
RI) we’re looking at going to Argentina next year for the
I speak a lot at work, I’m there 12 hours a day and honeymoon.
majority is in English. Um [my Spanish is] not as con-
fident as it was before. Well perhaps my spoken is a One clear limitation to desired L2 proficiency
little bit stronger, I don’t do much writing in Span- concerned academic literacy. While several par-
ish apart from some (.) fixed communications that
ticipants had undertaken further career-related
I know off by heart ( …) I mean some things have
studies, none had done so through an L2. The
improved that I can recognize, and some things I’ve
let slip, so something I used to struggle with a lot case of Participant 107 offered some insights into
was subjunctive and I that comes out quite easily for this issue. She had been living in Paris since grad-
me now. But genders and things like that, because uation with a French partner and working as an
I hear a lot of Italian as well, it’s all just gone belly administrator. She now wished to retrain as a
up [laughs]. But ( …) even my English has been af- nurse and had started studying for nursing exam-
fected a bit by everyone else’s [laughs] international inations in France. But despite her lengthy resi-
English so it’s just all got mixed up. dence, Participant 107 explained: “I found that it
was much too difficult on the level of language,
As seen in Participant 152’s description, mixed- and the fact of writing dissertations in French on
language practices were reported for almost all medical subjects, it is much too difficult” (L2I).
L2-using workplaces; only three participants re- Her solution was to undertake nurse training in
ported using L2 at work, without any additional England, accompanied by her partner. The easy
qualification. This could also be true in personal availability of equivalent training through English
relationships, for active multilingual users: meant that Participant 107 was not obliged to
meet the challenge of mastering medical French
EXCERPT 3 to fulfil her new career goal.
(Participant 160, marketing executive, RI)
When I’m together with [Mexican fiancée] it sort of
Graduates’ L2-Related Personal Competence
all comes back in a couple of days, but yeah it’s hard
to get that practice in. But I write and text every day in The participants reported very generally that
Spanish, and that sort of thing is completely fine (.) their experiences as L2 learners, and specifically
Probably not the kind of Spanish you’d want to teach
their SA experience, had contributed strongly
anyone, but it’s all grammatical and all fun, and she
to their sense of personal independence, self-
doesn’t correct me at all, so (laughs) that’s a good
sign. But we have our own sort of language now, and confidence, and openness to other cultures. This
we sort of communicate in our own way, make use was true regardless of current levels of engage-
of Spanish and then a bit of English, so that’s cool. ment with multilingual practice:
But um yeah anyone else listening in to our conver-
sations wouldn’t have a clue what we’re talking about EXCERPT 6
(laughs).
(Participant 124, police support officer, RI)
As for participants following monolingual When I was looking for a normal job, I think the fact
English-medium careers, the desired L2 profi- that I had worked quite independently as a secretary
ciency related essentially to leisure activities, in- in France, I think that gave me really an edge, be-
cause I had done that challenging job in another lan-
cluding holidays and media consumption:
guage on my own. But also I think just being abroad
and speaking another language, I feel a lot more con-
EXCERPT 4
fident than I used to be. I’m not shy anymore ( …)
(Participant 161, events manager, RI) and I don’t care about making a fool of myself in what
I think (.) I think it’s kind of a nice thing to have, to I say, which is useful because I speak to the public a
be able to read in another language and to be able lot now. Um so yeah I think it was really beneficial in
to converse when you go abroad. so many ways.
EXCERPT 7 EXCERPT 9
(Participant 152, business startup, Barcelona, (Participant 120, events manager, BQ)
RI)
Having studied and lived abroad, it would feel very
[SA offers] the ability to make you feel more of an in- wasteful/useless to not keep up my language skills.
ternational person. (.) You have a lot more awareness
of different cultures, certainly you understand a lot
EXCERPT 10
more about other countries. And that’s not just the
Spanish country, you meet a lot of different people, (Participant 125, events manager, BQ)
so you learn a lot of random things like how they do I have invested lots of time in my languages (my de-
something in Italy, how they do something in France. gree!) so I would hate to lose them.
And you become I think a lot more understanding of
different things as well.
Only two participants made explicit links be-
It was rare for participants to express a re- tween their investment in language learning and
flexive perspective on their own cultural back- their actual or potential career identity, while a
ground however. An exception was Participant few others explicitly rejected such links:
178, now teaching Spanish in a multicultural
school: EXCERPT 11
(Participant 113, studying for master’s in
EXCERPT 8 international relations, Belgium, BQ)
(Participant 178, teacher of Spanish, RI) I spent so much time studying it and I think it could
I think it [SA] makes you more prepared to work with be very useful in my career.
other cultures as well, like in my school I’ve had to
adapt to like a different culture there. ( …) I don’t EXCERPT 12
know any more what the stereotypical British per- (Participant 111, journalist, BQ)
son is, but I don’t feel that I am one. ( …) I’m not
(.) Mexican, I’m not something else, but I feel like I would like to maintain my French for pleasure, but
I’ve been influenced by other identities and other it is not relevant to my career.
cultures.
In the RIs however, some participants com-
Linguistic Self-Concept mented more fully on this link:
We have seen earlier that by choosing to spe-

EXCERPT 13
cialize in foreign language study at university, the
(Participant 106, language teacher, RI)
LANGSNAP participants were already developing
a self-concept as “language people” (C. Evans, Actually by the time I left university, and I’m not go-
1988) at a young age, and that this was consider- ing to lie, I was a bit disillusioned with it all, and I
ably reinforced by the experience of SA. Table 2 think I was fed up with studying it for so long. But
presents selected findings from the 2016 back- going back to it, and trying to inspire the little peo-
ple to enjoy it, has reminded me why [languages]
ground questionnaire, relevant to the mainte-
are the best things in the world. Because I get really
nance of this overall multilingual identity. The ta-
geeky about it, I love grammar, I think it’s really inter-
ble shows that at least two thirds of the group said esting, I think languages are really cool, I think the
they were confident users of French or Spanish, things that they do to your brain are fantastic, and I
were comfortable with the idea of living abroad, love learning about that side of it as well. So I’m get-
and viewed themselves subjectively as bilingual ting more and more enthusiastic about learning it
or multilingual. Over one third had studied at more, and kind of seeing myself improve, and seeing
least one further language, and almost all agreed my students improve.
it was important to maintain their language
skills. EXCERPT 14
Responses to open-ended background ques- (Participant 109, journalist, RI)
tions (BQ) provide fuller insight into participants’
I think it probably made me stand out from some-
linguistic self-concept. In support of the view
one who’d maybe just studied English, but it’s not a
that it is important to maintain one’s languages, necessary requirement of my job, so it was more like
participants frequently adopted metaphors of re- an extra thing, that they were like “oh that’s cool.”
turn on past effort, sometimes referring explic- When I say to people “oh I studied French,” they’re
itly to their specialist degree as a symbol of quite impressed, because in my office I’m probably
identity: the only one who has a foreign language.
TABLE 2
Group Long-Term Commitment to Multilingual Identity (Background Questionnaire, n = 33)
Characteristic Yes No
Is currently living abroad 8 25

Would like to live abroad again 19 6
Has had some form of work experience using languages (including TESOL) 27 6
Has studied one or more further languages 13 20
Has made new L2-using or multilingual friends (though may speak English with these) 23 10
Uses less French/Spanish now than during study abroad 25 8
Is confident/very confident when using French/Spanish with native speakers 25 8
Believes it is important/very important to maintain languages 31 2
Views self as bilingual or multilingual 23 10
More usually, participants made comments re- EXCERPT 17

flecting broader emotional and cultural attach- (Participant 102, trainee interpreter, L2I)
ments to language proficiency:
I think that to speak French really well, I need to live
in the country, I mean in France. And I adore Paris,
EXCERPT 15 I know it really well already, I have got friends over
(Participant 123, civil servant, BQ) there. So I am thinking seriously about returning to
Paris to live and to work. So my objectives are to work,
I feel that speaking other languages makes me
to travel, to learn [more] languages, and to live in
unique, and I love being able to communicate with
Paris again.
other people in their own language.
EXCERPT 18
(Participant 166, unemployed, RI) (Participant 173, radio journalist, RI)
As it is important for my lifestyle and how I see my- I feel like a part of my heart will always be in [SA loca-
self, losing my Spanish would leave a big hole which tion] as well. So going over there I don’t want to lose
I don’t think would be easily filled. I enjoy the con- the ability to speak Spanish. ( …) I really just enjoy
nection I feel with Spanish-speaking parts of the speaking Spanish now and so ideally in the future I
world and the affinity I feel to Spanish speakers. It would love to work out there for a bit, because I miss
has given me confidence to walk into situations and it and I just like the lifestyle so.
speak [which] I didn’t have in the past growing up
speaking only English. When explaining their self-assessments as bilin-
gual or multilingual (or not), most participants
As implied in the last quotation, for some par- used some reference to interactional competence
ticipants, the degree of emotional attachment dif- as a warrant for their claims, in line with their com-
fered between languages that they had studied. In ments on identity-related proficiency:
all cases, this preference attached to the SA lan-
guage: EXCERPT 19
(Participant 122, customer service, BQ)
EXCERPT 16 For me, being capable of communicating well in a
(Participant 157, university administrator, language means you can speak it, hence I can speak
RI) two (or three, as my Spanish is getting there). I can-
not claim that my French is as good as my English
You know Spain has this, Spanish has this excitement,
(chances are it will never be), but I am very capa-
and the year abroad, and so there’s something fas-
ble of expressing myself, and in a generally accurate
cinating [laughs] going on with French and why I
manner, and so I view myself as bilingual.
don’t like it ( …) I don’t have any motivation to keep
my French up. (.) I don’t really see it as something
that I want to use daily, it’s just there, and it’ll be a EXCERPT 20
shame, but if I do anything I’ll try and focus on Span- (Participant 125, events manager, BQ)
ish.
I speak French and German too, and I have used
both at work. While I am aware of my mistakes and
A small number of participants also expressed faults, my colleagues who do not speak those lan-
a definite affinity with the SA locality: guages would consider me fluent, so I would describe
myself as multilingual mainly due to their perception tings, and whose language skills had developed ac-
of me. cordingly.
Concerning L2-related personal and intercul-
A minority rejected the idea that they were tural competence, participants resembled those
bi- or multilingual despite making not dissimilar documented in earlier post-SA surveys (e.g.,
comments on their own interactional proficiency: DeGraaf et al., 2013), continuing to refer ex-
plicitly to their SA experience as contribut-
EXCERPT 21 ing significantly to their independence, self-
(Participant 129, music teacher, BQ) confidence, and problem-solving abilities. Many
I can speak French and Italian but don’t consider my- further viewed SA as having enhanced their
self to be fluent in a language other than English. employability (providing proof of flexibility, re-
silience, etc.), and had adopted a clear in-
EXCERPT 22 ternational posture, evidenced, for example,
(Participant 152, business startup, BQ) through interest in mobility or learning new
I have never used or thought of myself as multilin- languages. Many also attributed increased in-
gual because I only speak English at a native level tercultural awareness to the SA experience,
and Spanish at a relatively high level. I would only de- though few showed clear evidence of an exter-
scribe people who speak an additional two languages
nal reflexive perspective on their own national
at a high level as multilingual. I usually just describe
identity.
myself as “English and also speaks Spanish, having
studied it at university.” Concerning their linguistic self-concept, these
Anglophone languages specialists were aware
Thus, overall, whether claiming bi- or multilin- both of their privileged status as L1 English speak-
gual status or not, it seemed that most participants ers and their distinctive identity compared with
were thinking of themselves positively as bilingual monolinguals (in line with findings of Lanvers,
or multilingual users, and no longer learners, and 2017). They referenced their languages degrees
believed they were accepted as such by their in- as a continuing part of their graduate identity,
terlocutors, even when rejecting claims to native- even though few had adopted language-related
speaker proficiency in languages other than En- careers. They viewed themselves positively as bilin-
glish. gual or multilingual users, who expected to func-
tion flexibly and use mixed-language practices in-
DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSION cluding regular use of English as an international
lingua franca. While some identified primarily
The framework of Benson et al. (2013) has with one preferred L2, and could in Henry’s
proved useful in organizing and interpreting our (2017) terms be described as contentedly bilin-
data, and enabled us to sketch the linguistic iden- gual, this identification was not typically attached
tity of a group of Anglophone languages gradu- to any particular location (though there were ex-
ates as they entered their working lives. ceptions). Others, however, were keen to learn
Concerning identity-related L2 proficiency, and use additional languages, so as to maximize
participants generally prioritized face-to-face in- professional and personal mobility, and sustain
teractional competence (now, for uses ranging an international posture; for this group, the la-
from close personal relationships, to workplace bel multilingual identity seems apposite. Yet others
interactions, to leisure and travel). Many also val- were settling into primarily monolingual lives and
ued online and social media skills in L2 (email, careers, but explicit rejection of L2 identity was
Facebook, texting, etc.). Some valued reading as absent—even if for this group, the L2 self was op-
a work skill and/or a means of keeping in touch erative in very reduced domains (leisure and hol-
with international sport, fashion, or politics; a few idays).
enjoyed cultural products such as novels or films. Overall, the degree of continuity with findings
With few exceptions, L2 academic literacy had from our earlier study (Mitchell et al., 2017)
marginal value; English was ever present in pro- is striking. Participants’ priorities concerning
fessional and social life, as a constant alternative identity-related L2 proficiency remained stable
choice, with limiting effects for identity-related from the SA phase onward (most evident in an
multilingual proficiency. This Anglophone group ongoing preference for oral fluency and con-
presented a clear contrast with the Finnish engi- tinuing disinclination to engage systematically
neers studied by Räisänen (2016), for example, with academic and professional registers). Par-
who were fully committed to using BELF for pro- ticipants were very explicit about the enduring
fessional purposes in international workplace set- impact of SA on their developing personal and
intercultural competence, reflected in their cur- flected in the continuing enthusiasm for touris-
rent personal self-confidence and independence, tic travel, and rather limited intercultural perspec-
international orientation, and intercultural tives found among graduates. An SA experience
openness. Concerning linguistic self-concept, that included more challenging academic stud-
participants who had developed close personal ies, together with systematic training in ethno-
relations with locals during SA (e.g., Partici- graphic interpretations of culture and opportu-
pants 102, 160, 173) sustained a high level of nities for critical reflection on the self, the home
commitment to bilingualism, including a strong culture, and on English language practices could
affiliation to one L2 in particular, and sometimes provide a more solid foundation for the develop-
a continuing relationship with the SA locality. ment and sustained maintenance of multilingual
The multilingual identity consolidated during SA identity among this distinctive group. These sug-
was still significant for many other participants. gestions from a longer-term perspective are in line
While only a small minority had sought language- with those of many other scholars who have fo-
centered professional careers such as teaching, cused more immediately on the SA experience,
a striking feature was the number of participants such as Jackson (2014), Kinginger (2011), and
who had found ways to sustain their multilingual Roberts et al. (2001). Further support could come
identity through the workplace, often by taking from the adoption more generally in the higher
subprofessional jobs involving some form of mul- education languages curriculum, of a sustained
tilingual practice. Participants’ propensity to add focus on advanced literacy, including systematic
new multilingual individuals to their personal introduction to a range of professional genres, as
social networks also reflects an ongoing positive advocated by, for example, Byrnes, Maxim, and
orientation to multilingualism, as well as an in- Norris (2010) and Ryshina–Pankova and Byrnes
ternational orientation. This active identity work (2017).
was not of course universal, especially among An adjustment to the languages curriculum by
those most integrated into monolingual profes- itself will of course not necessarily stabilize and
sional environments. For Anglophone graduates, enhance multilingual graduate identity, which de-
fulfilling professional lives are available without velops over time through ongoing interaction be-
any expectation of L2 use, and L2 use may be tween the changing conditions of the labor mar-
marginalized to leisure and holiday practices, ket and the agency of the individual young adult
despite unweakened positive perceptions of the (Holmes, 2015; Tomlinson, 2010). To understand
impact of SA on personal competence, and better how multilingual competence and iden-
positive value of a languages degree. tity are sustained long term, more detailed re-
Overall therefore, the SA experience is of con- search is clearly needed into longitudinal in-
tinuing significance for Anglophone languages teractions between individual graduate agency
graduates. It confirms their sense of self as dis- and workplace communities of practice. We need
tinctive language people, heightens their sense to better understand the apparent willingness
of self-efficacy as multilingual users, and strength- of languages graduates to undertake short-term
ens their emotional attachment to languages. And subprofessional jobs involving multilingual prac-
on the whole, these identifications remain ro- tice, alongside their apparent reluctance to enter
bust, 3 years postgraduation. However, our find- language-centered professional careers such as
ings also suggest some biases in the current SA languages teaching, as well as the opportunities or
experience of Anglophone students, which limit obstacles within the workplace itself for maintain-
the choices open to the multilingual self in the ing and developing different domains of L2 pro-
longer term. First, Mitchell et al. (2017) docu- ficiency. We also need to better understand how
mented a downplaying of student identity among workplace demands interact with engagement in
many Anglophones abroad, and a related ne- multilingual social networks and leisure activities.
glect of academic literacy when abroad. It seems Considerable research attention has been paid to
this failure to use the SA opportunity to acquire SA over time, but the insights gained concerning
academic L2 registers may have restricted par- identity development in disruptive new settings
ticipants’ later choices regarding postgraduate need to be applied to a much wider range of con-
studies, with English-medium programs almost texts, over longer time cycles, if we are to meet
universally selected. In turn, a preference for the expectations of policymakers in creating and
English-medium postgraduate training is likely sustaining the multilingual expertise required to
to limit multilingual career choices. And finally, overcome a current “language deficit” in Anglo-
the somewhat shallow and ‘touristic’ engagement phone society (Commission on Language Learn-
with local cultures, common during SA, is re- ing, 2017, p. 5).
Byrnes, H., Maxim, H. H., & Norris, J. M. (2010). Real-
izing advanced foreign language writing develop-
NOTES
ment in collegiate education: Curricular design,
1 The HESA categories combine foreign language
pedagogy, assessment [Monograph]. Modern Lan-
guage Journal, 94, 1–235.
specialists with English language and literature special- Clarke, M. (2018). Rethinking graduate employabil-
ists. ity: The role of capital, individual attributes and
2 The LANGSNAP project was funded from 2011–
context. Studies in Higher Education, 43, 1923–
2013 by the UK Economic and Social Research Council 1937.
(Grant no. RES-062-23-2996). Coleman, J. A., & Chafer, T. (2011). The experience and
3 The follow-up study was conducted with a Language
long-term impact of study abroad by Europeans
Learning Small Grant and funding from the University in an African context. In F. Dervin (Ed.), Analyz-
of South Florida. ing the consequences of academic mobility and migration
4 The small numbers of graduates entering specialist
(pp. 67–96). Newcastle, UK: Cambridge Scholars
languages careers is not due to lack of opportunity, for Publishing.
example, there is currently a shortage of language teach- Commission on Language Learning. (2017). America’s
ers in UK schools. languages: Investing in language education for the 21st
5 Quotes from the L2 interviews have been translated
century. Cambridge, MA: American Academy of
into English. Arts and Sciences.
DeGraaf, D., Slagter, C., Larsen, K., & Ditta, E. (2013).
The long-term personal and professional impacts
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Language Engagement Questionnaire: Screenshot of Spanish Page
SUPPORTING INFORMATION
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APPENDIX
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After Study Abroad: Identity Maintanance

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After Study Abroad: The Maintenance

of Multilingual Identity Among

IN A WORLD OF HYPERCENTRAL ENGLISH communities—albeit one associated ideologically

French (n = 16)a Spanish (n = 11)

At Least Monthly/ At Least Monthly/

three schoolteachers of French or Spanish, who Graduates’ Identity-Related L2 Proficiency

We have seen earlier that by choosing to spe-

Is currently living abroad 8 25

More usually, participants made comments re- EXCERPT 17

end of the article.

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