Foreign Language Enrollment Attrition: Exploring the Key Factors of Motivation, Academic Success, Instruction, and Anxiety at the Elementary Level

Abstract

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.