November 27 1999.docx

November 27 1999.docx

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November271999

ALongitudinalSurveyoftheLanguageLearningCareersofACTRAdvancedStudentsofRussian:

1976-2000

DanE.Davidson

SusanGoodrichLehmann

Introduction

In1976,theAmericanCouncilofTeachersofRussian（ACTR）begansendingAmericancollegestudentstoRussiaforadvancedtraininginRussianlanguageandliterature.TheoriginalACTRprogramwasopentoqualifiedstudentsfromanyU.S.institutionandrepresentedoneoftheveryfewopportunitiesavailabletoAmericanstudents,graduatestudents,orfacultytopursueadvancedlanguagetraininginRussia,inthiscase,thenewlyestablishedA.S.PushkinInstituteoftheRussianLanguageinMoscow.Admissiontotheprogramwascompetitive,and,inpractice,theACTRprogramacceptedforthemostpartgraduatestudentsandimmediate-postBAstudentsintotheprogram.Withinfiveyears,theACTRprogramswereexpandedtoincludelimitedopportunitiesforyear-longstudy,aswellassummerstudyatthePushkinInstituteacademicandresidentialcomplexinsouthwestMoscow.Duringthefollowingdecade,thenumberofhostinstitutionsinRussiagraduallyexpandedtoincludetheHerzenPedagogicalInstitute（nowtheRussianStatePedagogicalUniversity）inSt.Petersburg,MoscowInternationalUniversity,MoscowStateUniversity,St.PetersburgStateUniversity,andtheVladimirStatePedagogicalUniversity（CORA）program,aswellasothers.

Asof2005,morethan4,500studentsandscholarsfrom315collegesanduniversitieshavetakenpartinsummer,semesteroracademicyearadvancedlevellanguageandregionalstudiestrainingprogramsinRussiaorotherNIScountriesundertheauspicesoftheACTR/AmericanCouncils,nowthelargestAmericanacademicexchangeorganizationwiththeRussophoneworld.AmericanCouncilsmanagesbilateralexchangesofhighschool,college,andgraduatestudentsaswellasexchangesofteachers,researchers,andotherprofessionals.Infiscalyear2005,AmericanCouncilsadministeredexchangeprogramsfor4,200citizensofRussiaandEurasiaand625U.S.participants,manyofthemsupportedonlong-termdegree-relatedstudyorresearchsupportedbyU.S.orforeigngovernmentsorprivatefunders.

Fromitsinception,ACTRhasplacedapremiumonthecollectionandanalysisofperformance-baseddatarelatedtoallAmericanCouncils/ACTRtrainingprograms.Languagetrainingdatamaintainedforatypicalprogramparticipantincludebasicdemographicdata,educationalbackground（majorfield,degreesheld,schoolsattended）,fellowshipsupport,qualifyingexaminationscores,recommendations,preandpostprogramproficiencytestscoresinreading,listening,andoralcommunication,Russianhostinstitution,andcourseworkcompleted.

Table1:

AmericanCouncils’ExchangeProgramDatabase1976to

Present

Section

Topic

#ofQuestions

A.

BiographicalData

13

B.

RussianProficiencyPre-ProgramScores

10

C.

LeadershipandAdaptabilityPre-ProgramScores

7

D.

RussianProficiencyPost-ProgramScores

3

（SeeAppendices1and2formoredetailedinformationoneachsection.）SomeofthesedatahavebeenanalyzedandtheresultspublishedinDavidsonetal.1993and1995.

In1997,AmericanCouncilsreceivedaresearchgrantfromtheU.S.DepartmentofEducation（InternationalResearchandStudies,TitleVI）tocarryoutasurveyofU.S.alumnioftheACTRoverseasRussianlanguageprograms.Theprimarypurposeofthissurveywastogainaperspectiveonthelong-termimpactoftheexchangeexperienceonbothpersonalandcareerdevelopment.TheOutboundAlumniSurveyProjectwasamulti-stageprocess,detailedinthemethodologysectionbelow,andAmericanCouncilsispleasedtoreportthatthefinaldatasetcontained701completedsurveys.

The172questionOutboundAlumniSurveycoversninemajortopicareas.Theyare:

Table2:

OutboundAlumniSurveySprinttoFall2000

Section

Topic

#ofQuestions

A.

Biographical,EducationalandEmploymentHistory

26

B.

Pre-CollegeRussianLanguageTraining

14

C.

CollegeRussianLanguageTraining

11

D.

U.S.SummerLanguageTraininginRussian

21

E.

GraduateSchoolTraininginRussian

6

F.

RussianLanguageStudyAbroad

42

G.

CurrentRussianLanguageProficiency

14

H.

CurrentUseofRussian

18

I.

GeneralEmploymentPreferences&AttitudeTowardsLanguageStudy

20

IncombinationwiththeExchangeProgramDatabase,theOutboundAlumniSurveywasdesignedtoallowanalysisoffivebroadareasofinterest:

1）languagestudy,2）languagelearningandability,3）exchangeexperience,4）languagemaintenance,and5）careerimpactoflanguagestudy.Eachsectionconcentratedonacoresetofresearchquestions.Thechartbelowhighlightsourmainresearchfoci,butdoesnotexhaustallofthepossibletopicsofstudy.

Table3:

OutboundAlumniSurvey

PrimaryResearchQuestions

1）LanguageStudy

WhatfactorspromptpeopletotakeupthestudyofRussianincollege?

DoheritagelearnershavedifferentreasonsforstudyingRussian?

ArepeoplewhotakeupRussianmorelikelytohavepreviouslystudiedaforeign

languagethanpeoplewhotakeupotherlanguages?

DograduatestudentsintheRussianDepartmentenhanceundergraduatetraininginRussian,andifso,how?

2.LanguageLearningandAbility

Whatistherelationshipbetweenpreexchangetrainingand/orproficiencyinRussianandlanguagegainduringtheexchange?

Whatarethefactorsthatpredictlanguagegaininstudyabroadenvironments?

3.ExchangeExperience

Whatfactorspromptedpeopletogoonexchange?

Atwhatstagedostudentsgetthemostoutoftheexchangeintermsoflanguageskilldevelopment?

Atwhatstagedostudentsgetthemostoutoftheexchangeintermsofnon-languagedevelopment（e.g.increasedconfidence,increasedadaptability,etc.）?

Aretheeffectsofthefirstandsubsequentexchangesdifferent?

Howdodifferentin-countrylivingarrangementsinfluenceskilldevelopment?

（Dormversushomestay,forexample.）

IslanguagedevelopmentgreateramongstudentswhomakeRussianfriends?

Ifso,isdevelopmentgreateracrossallmodalities?

Howdopeopleevaluatetheroleofstudyabroadintheiroveralleducationalexperience?

CanweanticipatethatRussianlanguagemajorswillvaluetheexchangefordifferentreasonsthanstudentswithothermajors–sociology,politicalscience,internationalstudies,comparativehistory,etc.?

Didtheexchangeexperienceshapetheperson’sattitudetowardtheUnitedStates?

TowardtheformerSovietUnion?

How?

4.LanguageMaintenance

WhatfactorseffectRussianproficiencyforpeopleatdifferentdistancesfromthe

exchangeexperience?

Arecertaingroupsofpeoplemorelikelytoactivelyworktomaintainlanguageskills?

Whatlife-longlearningstrategiesdopeopleusetomaintaintheirRussian?

Arecertainactivitiesmoreeffectiveinmaintaininglanguageskills?

5.CareerChoice

TowhatextentdoalumniuseRussianintheircareers?

Istherearelationshipbetweenpost-exchangelanguageproficiencyandcareerchoice?

Istherearelationshipbetweenhighestdegreeattained,major,ordegreeinstitutionandcareeruseofRussian?

WhichgroupswithintheexchangepopulationseekoutjobsinvolvingRussian,

knowledgeofRussianhistory,societyandpolitics,orfrequenttraveltothe

formerSovietUnion?

TheOutboundAlumniSurveyProjectisafirstbothintermsofscopeandsize.ThisarticleisthefirstinaseriesofarticlesthatwillexplorethefindingsofthecombinedExchangeProgramandOutboundAlumniSurveyDatabases.Weanticipatethattheseresearchfindingswillcontributetoinformedpolicyformationregardingthefundingofacademicexchangesandoverseasstudy.

OutboundAlumniSurveyMethodology

SurveyDesign

Thesurveywasdevelopedinfourdesignphases.DanDavidson,WilliamRivers,andKimFedchak,thelattertwothenPh.D.candidatesinRussianandSecondLanguageAcquisitionatBrynMawrCollege,designedapilotsurveycontaining145open-endedquestions.Thepilotsurveywasmailedto90selectedalumniin1998.Thirty-fouralumniparticipatedintheinitialpilotsurvey.TheiranswerswereanalyzedbyKimFedchakinareportentitled“TheLong-TermPatternsofLanguageUseafterGraduate:

TheCaseofACTRStudyAbroadAlumni,”presentedatthe1998AATSEELmeetinginSanFrancisco.

Inthespringof1999,aclosedversionofthealumnisurveywasdraftedbyDanDavidsonandSusanLehmann,authorofResearchMethodsinCyberspace:

InternetExercisesforSocialScienceResearchCourses.Thesurveywaspre-testedintheAmericanCouncils’Washington,D.C.office.FifteenWashingtonD.C.-basedAmericanCouncils’employeestookthesurveyandgavewrittenandoralsuggestionsformodifications.Thisgroupwaschosenasatestpopulationbecauseitmirroredinmanyrespectsthealumnipopulationintermsofage,languagestudy,exchangeabroadparticipation,andcareerpatterns.Theemployeesalsohadexperiencewithexchangeprogrammanagement,andthuswereabletosuggestsomelesscommonstudentprofilesthatthefirstdraftofthesurveydidnotadequatelyaccommodate.

Inthesummerof1999,DavidsonandLehmannfurtherrevisedthesurveyfollowingconsultationswithRichardBrechtandMichaelLong,bothofwhomwereinvestigatingprofessionallanguageutilizationandneedsanalysisinseparateprojectsoftheNationalForeignLanguageCenterattheUniversityofMarylandatthattime.Thissetofrevisionsfocusedontheabilityofthesurveytotestcurrenttheoriesconcerninglanguageuseoverthelifecourseandthefactorspredictingsuccessinlanguagegainduringstudyabroadprograms.

AlumniSearch

Simultaneouswiththesurveydesign,AmericanCouncilstookontheseparatelogisticalchallengeoflocatingACTR