There are many benefits that are believed to be associated with study abroad (SA), such as cultivating intercultural and global competence, advancing academic/career trajectories, and language acquisition. However, in terms of language development, previous research has reported inconclusive or sometimes contradictory results (e.g., Kinginger, 2013; Wang, 2010). This inconclusiveness is attributable, foremost, to the vast differences in experience that each SA participant undergoes in each environment. The traditional outcome-based research cannot sufficiently capture the complexity of SA experiences, but instead, process-oriented descriptive research should contribute to a fuller understanding of SA experiences (e.g., Kinginger, 2008, 2013). Building on this line of inquiry, my research aims to investigate a detailed account of the language socialization process by participants in three short-term SA programs in Japan. I

take up two central aspects of language socialization, namely, interpersonal relationships and interactional practice, as primary objects of analysis and closely describe how these

elements are intricately related vis-à-vis language development. Interpersonal relationship is an oft-mentioned notion in SA research, but the one that is rarely analyzed systematically. I employ social network analysis (SNA) to look into the structural properties of not only individual relationships, but also of entire program networks and sub-structures (communities, groups). The second element, interactional practice, is also an imperative aspect of SA. I use conversation analysis (CA) to closely document characteristics of and changes in interactional practices, such as code-switching, topic management, and repair/search activities, as well as in the use of verbal and nonverbal resources, which all constitute interactional competence (Hall & Pekarek-Doehler, 2011). These analytical foci—interpersonal relationships and interactional practice—are complementary in capturing the interplays of individual agency and surroundings, which together give rise to unique reality for every participant.