Tripp Strawbridge Presents at the 2024 Conference of the American Association for Applied Linguistics (AAAL)
Tripp Strawbridge recently presented his research at the annual conference of the American Association for Applied Linguistics (AAAL) in Houston, Texas. The presentation, titled "Longitudinal social network analysis in study abroad: Effects of travel, extracurriculars, and 'at home' network communication," described the ways in which various factors affected students' social network development while studying abroad in Spain for one semester. This social network development was not significantly affected by continued virtual communication with contacts "back home" (i.e., outside of the study site), or by students' volunteer and workplace internship placements; however, frequent weekend travel outside of the study site had a notable impact on the types of social networks formed. Students who traveled more developed fewer relationships with local Spanish peers, and did not progress in their Spanish proficiency to the same degree as those who spent more time on site.