The effect of context and input conditions on oral and written development: A Study Abroad perspective 1 CARMEN PÉREZ-VIDAL AND MARIA JUAN-GARAU IRAL 49 (2011), 157–185 0019042X/2011/049-157 DOI 10.1515/iral.2011.008 c Walter de Gruyter Abstract This article aims at describing and explaining the effects of a period of Study Abroad spent in the target language country (SA) on foreign language develop- ment. Such effects are analysed in the short- and mid-term and in contrast with the impact of a period of formal instruction (FI) previously spent in the home country (AH). It is hypothesised that because each of the two contexts has dif- ferential patterns of input exposure, both quantitatively and qualitatively, their effect on the participants’ communicative and motivational development will also be different. The learners’ abilities to avail themselves of opportunities for contact with the target language that the SA context provides are also taken into account. For this purpose, a sample of Catalan/Spanish EFL undergraduates who spent a compulsory three-month sojourn in an English-speaking univer- sity was analysed longitudinally over a period of three years. Intensive testing of the learners’ oral and written abilities was carried out, and both global and fine-grained measurements were applied to the data. Comparisons were also drawn between the sample of non-native English speaking learners (NNSs) and baseline data from a similar sample of native English-speaking (NSs) exchange students. 1. This research would not have been possible without the support of two research grants (HUM2007-66053-C02-01 and 02/FILO; FFI2010-21483-CO2-01/02) and ALLENCAM (2005 SGR 01086; SGR 2009 140), from the Spanish Ministry of Education and the Catalan Government respectively. We are very grateful to the members of the SALA project team for their steady contribution to data collection, in particular to Joan-Carles Mora for his in- sightful ongoing input throughout this study. Our sincere appreciation also goes to Margalida Valls-Ferrer and Pilar Avello for their assistance with the transcription and coding of the data. Thanks are also due to the two anonymous IRAL reviewers for their valuable feedback. We would also like to thank Rebecca Lara for her editing work. AUTHOR’S COPY | AUTORENEXEMPLAR AUTHOR’S COPY | AUTORENEXEMPLAR