“The experiential learning of English”: Discourses of Catalan families on teenage educational mobility abroad

Abstract

Early study abroad is becoming popular among the Catalan middle classes. An increasing number of families send their teenage children to spend a term or a school year abroad to “solve” the issue of English. In this article, based on thirteen ethnographic interviews with parents of teenagers who have spent time in an English-speaking country, we analyze the discourses that families construct to justify their decision. The notion of immersion, ideologically naturalized as the most authentic and effective way of learning a language “well”, is key in the families’ imaginaries. We situate our research within the field of family language policy (FLP), to which we contribute an under-researched context. We understand teenage educational mobility abroad as an FLP that leads parents to obsessively plan their children’s stay in order to minimize risks and maximize the return on their investment. The goal is for their children to acquire spontaneous and fluent oral communication skills and, if possible, a “good” accent. Parents’ narratives, however, show that the perceived benefits of these stays go far beyond language gains. They foreground their children’s transformation into confident, responsible and independent quasi-adults. The results also show that these stays are successful in that they effect a change in teenagers’ affective dispositions towards English, a language that becomes “incorporated” to their bodies and minds.