Effects of Short-term Study Abroad Programs on the Development of English Skills : Improvement of Writing Skill and Fossilization

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This research project investigated two questions pertinent to the acquisition of English by Japanese college students learning English as a foreign language (JEFL) : (1) Whether a short-term English study abroad program can help the JEFL improve their writing ability and (2) whether first language (L1) transfer results in fossilization, and if so, in which linguistic component such fossilization is found among the JEFL. We analyzed data from the JEFL's results on three different tests?the Michigan Test of English Language Proficiency, the Institutional Test of Written English, and the grammar acceptability test. Our analyses have showed that (1) the tailor-made, presentation-centered study abroad program is indeed effective for the improvement of logical and coherent writing in English among the JEFL, and (2) L1 transfer is a serious factor in the acquisition of inflectional morphology, unlike in narrow syntax, which seemingly leads to the fossilization of 3rd person singular /s/ and noun plural /s/ among the JEFL.