Study abroad experience: A qualitative case study

This qualitative inquiry aims to investigate the interpretations of a female lecturer in a Turkish university on her long-term study abroad experience and how the experience contributed to her ongoing professional development and language proficiency. Using a case design with multiple data collection tools, the researcher conducted semi-structured interviews, recorded observations through informal discussions and collected retrospective e-mails from the participant. The research reveals interesting results contrary to the general ideas about the impact of study abroad on linguistic, intercultural and professional development. By analyzing the participant's voices, it was found that the experience had negative results on her language proficiency and shifted her towards the opposite direction than expected. This was the unexpected result of many factors including factors such as decision, preparation, challenges, target culture, length of stay and adaptation problems. A salient finding of the study abroad experience was that the participant ex¬pressed a commitment to her native culture and language which was shaped as a result of experiencing adaptation problems to the target culture. She expresses being tolerant and open to new things as one of the few contributions after her study abroad experience. The study is considered significant in terms of revealing several implications for foreign language educators and students as well as the researchers in the field of study. Keywords: Study abroad, target language, target culture, motivation, interaction,adaptation problems