Studienaufenthalte im Ausland sind prägende Erfahrungen. Sie fördern sprachliche und interkulturelle Kompetenz sowie positive Einstellungen gegenüber Mehrsprachigkeit. Bisher gibt jedoch nur wenige Untersuchungen dazu, welche langfristigen Effekte solche Aufenthalte haben.

Das Projekt der Sprachwissenschaftlerin Dr. Zeynep Köylü analysiert, wie sich sprachliche, interkulturelle und einstellungsbezogene Fortschritte während eines Auslandsaufenthalts über die Zeit erhalten, weiterentwickeln und in zukünftige Lehrpraktiken übertragen.

Ein besonderer Fokus gilt angehenden Lehrpersonen: Das Projekt untersucht, wie deren Studienaufenthalte im Ausland dazu beitragen, dass in Schweizer Klassenzimmern sprachliche Vielfalt, ein Bewusstsein für Mehrsprachigkeit und eine darauf ausgerichtete Didaktik stattfinden.

Zeynep Köylü ist Oberassistentin im Fachbereich Anglistik am Departement Sprach- und Literaturwissenschaften der Universität Basel. Ihre Forschungsinteressen gelten unter anderem dem Zweitsprachenerwerb und Sprachentwicklung in unterschiedlichen Kontexten, insbesondere im Rahmen eines Auslandstudiums. Einen weiteren Fokus legt sie auf fortgeschrittene Sprachbeurteilung, Englisch als Lingua franca sowie auf interkulturelle Kompetenzen.

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Dr. Zeynep Köylü Awarded SNSF Starting Grant for Groundbreaking Project on Study Abroad 

Dr. Zeynep Köylü, Senior Assistant in English Linguistics at the University of Basel’s Department of Languages and Literatures, has been awarded a prestigious SNSF Starting Grant for her project LINC: Long-term Impact of Study Abroad on Linguistic Proficiency, Intercultural Competence, and Plurilingualism: Gains, Maintenance, and Transferability. The project will run between 01 January 2027 to 31 December 2031 with a research team including two doctoral assistants and a postdoctoral assistant, along with Dr. Köylü as the principal investigator.

The SNSF Starting Grants support outstanding researchers aiming to establish their own research groups in Switzerland. The program is open to scholars with two to eight years of postdoctoral experience and a formal link to Switzerland. Each project receives approximately 1.8 million Swiss Francs in funding. As part of the award, grantees are appointed to a non-tenure-track assistant professorship at the University of Basel. This year, 416 applications were submitted and 41 received the grant, indicating a 10 percent success rate. Dr. Köylü is one of the three grantees who will conduct their projects at the University of Basel. 

The LINC project explores the long-term impact of studying abroad, which is acknowledged as a transformative experience in terms of linguistic, intercultural, and plurilingual development. Despite its importance, little is known about how these positive outcomes evolve and persist over time. LINC addresses this gap by investigating how the linguistic, intercultural, and attitudinal outcomes are gained, maintained, and transferred into professional practice, particularly among pre-service teachers in Switzerland. It also examines how international experiences contribute to linguistic diversity, awareness of plurilingualism, and the implementation of plurilingual pedagogies in Swiss classrooms.

Dr. Köylü’s broader research focuses on second language acquisition and development, study abroad learning contexts, advanced language assessment, English as a lingua franca, and intercultural competence.