Lasting Impact of Study Abroad Experiences: A Collaborative Autoethnography.
Svetlana Manning
School of Art and Sciences, Liberty University
RSCH 201: Research
Professor William Green
March 8, 2024
Summary
The research article by Garbati and Rothschild explores the impact of studying abroad.
Through a Collaborative Autoethnography (CAE) methodology, they reflect on their own
experiences studying abroad in France, looking at themes such as language and culture,
academics, shifts in identity, and long-term effects. They mention how being abroad can show
them the cultural norms and discover things about them they never knew. They also mention
how much their decisions in their future life have changed. Both never suspected they would be
FSL teachers in the public school system. These authors give advice on saying to use CAE when
studying abroad. It can help you to get to know yourself more and uncover parts of yourself you
never knew about.
Overview and Purpose
The purpose of this research is to understand the impact that studying abroad does for
students both directly and indirectly. Garbati and Rothschild have discovered that most of the
research about studying abroad is focused on the student’s language development and there is not
much research about the impacts of the studying abroad experiences. Garbati and Rothshchild
have similar experiences. They both studied abroad in France. With different motivations to live
and learn in France both learned French in different ways. Years later they met each other
through an online graduate level course. In this research Garbati and Rothschild use their study
abroad experiences to understand the direct and indirect impacts on their experiences of being
aboard.
The thesis of this research article focuses on exploring the impacts of studying abroad,
particularly in culture, academics, identity, and the lasting impact. These are the four major
themes Garbati and Rothschild discovered. The first theme is language and culture. Their
narratives had shown their interest to study in France to improve their French. They had fallen in
love with French culture. Rothschild had mentioned in the beginning of the program how she felt
confident in Dijon. Even though she was able to speak French, in the article she states “ "I
thought I was using proper vocabulary or I thought I had understood something only to find out I
was mistaken.” (Rothschild, 2016). She discovered that we may learn one way outside of the
country of their language, yet when you go into the culture, you will find that it is completely
different and they have different slangs. The second theme is academics. Their experiences were
mostly influenced by their academics. They referred many times to their textbooks and their
professors. They both talk about how they had to take a French language test when they first
arrive. It is split into 5 levels. They both managed to pass with flying colors. Their courses were
much different from ours. Rothschild states how the courses were not taught by FSL teachers,
and it felt more of a lecture style of course rather than language. Garbati shared she had similar
experiences. The third theme was identity. They mentioned how much they had written about
what they had thought of themselves during their time abroad. The identities they knew off
themselves had changed. And the last theme is the lasting impact it had on them. They both had
become FSL teachers in the public school system and both went to graduate school later in life
to pursue FSL research interests. For Garbati, studying abroad had improved her confidence in
speaking French and for Rothschild, studying abroad had strengthened her interest in the French
language.
Methods and Research
In this research, they adopted a CAE methodology. This is a qualitative research method
in which researchers work in a community to collect their data. CAE methods have many
variations which involve all researchers individually and collaboratively reflecting on a
particular thing. With CAE, researchers need to stay flexible and open-minded about their study.
They talk about three different types of data collection they use. The first is preliminary
data collection. As mentioned before, Garbati and Rothschild had met previously online through
an online course. The two authors exchanged emails for a few months, writing their individual
narrative and their experiences while studying abroad. They talked for long periods of time
discussing their narratives, and their next step into their research. The second type of data
collection they used was subsequent data collection. After they read each other's drafts, they
added more content using the French university website, and their class notes. They also had
spoken with Jordana who showed them her daily emails to her family during her time abroad.
These emails had stated her personal experiences while studying abroad. They were raw, yet
truthful. Last but not least, Garbati and Rothschild had also used data analysis and report writing
for data collection. In April 2013, they met in person for the first time to discuss their findings.
The audio recorded everything from their comparing of finds to their discussion about their
research question and some common themes they had discovered. They met five times in total,
online and over skype writing their findings.
Conclusion of Research
Their research showed how studying abroad had changed and impacted their decisions in
their future life. Not only that, but also gave both authors a love for the culture, and helped them
discover part of their identities that would have stayed hidden forever if they had never taken the
leap of faith of going abroad. They encourage those who study abroad to engage in CAE to
contribute to the research world and for their personal growth in life.
