Foreign Language Enrollment Attrition: Exploring the Key Factors of Motivation, Academic Success, Instruction, and Anxiety at the Elementary Level
Issue Date
2013-05-31Author
Meyer, Sarah Nicole
Publisher
University of Kansas
Format
93 pages
Type
Dissertation
Degree Level
Ed.D.
Discipline
Curriculum and Teaching
Rights
This item is protected by copyright and unless otherwise specified the copyright of this thesis/dissertation is held by the author.
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Show full item recordAbstract
The Olathe District Schools has been experiencing a trend of enrollment decline in middle School Spanish since 2007 despite the implementation of a video-based elementary Spanish program. The purpose of this study was to investigate the influential factors of motivation (integrative/instrumental), instruction, academic success, and anxiety, which are found in the literature related to foreign language enrollment attrition, to determine whether any of these four variables could predict whether students continued or discontinued enrollment in Spanish upon entering their middle school years in the Olathe School District. Gardner's mini-AMTB with slight modifications was administered to 560 5th grade students. A binary logistic regression was then run. Results revealed that students with higher levels of integrative motivation were more likely to continue in their Spanish studies upon entering middle school. In addition, the results of this study support the findings of several foreign language program enrollment attrition studies done at the secondary level. Recommendations for the Superintendent, International Language Assistants (ILA's), and the District Foreign Language Coordinator were made based on the findings of this study.
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- Education Dissertations and Theses [1065]
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