Foreign Language Skills in the Study Abroad Decision-Making Process and Destination Choices

Abstract

In the literature on international student mobility, foreign language skills are usually discussed as an outcome rather than a driver of study abroad programmes. In contrast, this article focuses on their role in study abroad aspirations and destination choices of credit mobility students. The study is based on an online survey, conducted at three European HEIs (n = 2,327), located in Belgium and the Netherlands, and revealed that students who assess their skills as advanced are more likely to aspire to study abroad compared to those who evaluate their skills at an intermediate level. Students who speak a foreign language daily are also more likely to aspire to study abroad. Furthermore, our analysis suggests that the number of languages students speak does not seem to play a role. Finally, the findings demonstrate a significant influence of knowing the official language of the country on the choice of study abroad destination.