PLACE IN RETURN BOX to remove this checkout from your record. To AVOID FINES return on or before date due. MAY BE RECALLED with earlier due date if requested. DATE DUE DATE DUE DATE DUE I w $9134) ¥ 00 91V on 2’05 p‘JClRC/DatoDuehdd-pJ MUSIC AND MOTIVATION IN THE SECOND LANGUAGE COLLEGE CLASSROOM Volume I By Marcie J. Pyper A DISSERTATION Submitted to Michigan State University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY Department of Teacher Education 2005 ABSTRACT MUSIC AND MOTIVATION IN THE SECOND LANGUAGE COLLEGE CLASSROOM By Marcie J. Pyper This research study investigates qualitative and quantitative data from college students concerning their perceptions of the language Ieaming context and of the affective and cognitive effects of musical modes of instruction in a required intermediate second language course. The study was conducted in two college interrnediate-level Spanish classes of which I was the instructor. The specific focus of the study centered on student perceptions of four issues: (1) the current context for second language study; (2) student motivations for second language Ieaming; (3) the value of music activities in building second language skills; and (4) the value of music activities for student participation in second language Ieaming. Music activities used in the class included listening to recorded songs, singing songs, and composing lyrics in the target language to a familiar tune. There were four phases to the data collection: an initial student survey on second language background; a series of daily evaluations of class activities; a motivation questionnaire; and interviews with individual students. The findings from this study indicate that these students live in a society with minimal support for or modeling of second language fluency. For this population second language Ieaming began later than any other core subject in their tonnal education, usually during middle school or high school. The students have had few opportunities to need or use a second language through travel or everyday experience and there are very few adults in their immediate or extended family that are fluent in a second language. The students showed some consensus in regard to motivations for second language Ieaming. The majority of the students admitted that they would not be taking the class if it were not to fulfill a college requirement. Even though they saw some importance for immigrants to learn English as a second language and believed that Spanish is an important language in the US, they did not agree that Ieaming a second language was important for everyone. Although students perceived some value in the music activities for building second language skills, there was a stronger support for the affective effects of the music activities in the classroom. The majority of the students perceived value in the music activities for lowering the anxiety they felt in the class. A higher percentage of students indicated appreciation for the music activities than for the study of second language in general. When asked for the three activities that they most enjoyed throughout the semester, students listed a music activity more than any other classroom activity. The results from this population strongly support the current context for second language Ieaming, including the monolingual nature of the society in which they live, that is set forth in the literature review. The results also show a low level of personal motivation for second language Ieaming on the part of the students. The students indicated strong support for the positive effects of the use of music activities in the second language classroom to encourage student participation in second language reception and production. Copyright by MARCIE J. PYPER 2005 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I am grateful to my dissertation committee, Dr. Douglas Campbell, Dr. Debra Hardison, Dr. Susan Florio-Ruane, and Dr. Wanda May, for their encouragement and guidance along the way. I am indebted to each one for their individual contributions to my work: Dr. W. May, for her willingness to join the committee late in the process and for her thoughtful comments at the defense; Dr. S. Florio-Ruane, for her encouragement through several courses, comprehensive exams, and the meaningful connections she has brought to my attention; Dr. D. Hardison, for challenging my thinking through several classes and for her very careful reading of the dissertation manuscript and detailed comments before its final form; Dr. D. Campbell, for his patient wisdom, faithful listening, and insightful suggestions as we worked through this long journey. I am also grateful to many friends and colleagues at Calvin College for their faithful support and encouraging words, including research consultant Kurt Schaefer; research assistants, Erin Kuperus, Kari Slotsma, and Betty Duimstra; readers of selected portions, Dianne Zandstra, Marie Den Braber. My family has stood tirelessly beside me, assisting me in innumerable ways. I am deeply grateful for each of you: Jack, Jessica, Jeremy, Kerrah, Mom and Dad, and Mom P. I could not have finished without you. A Dios sea Ia gloria . .- r. _.J «. .,. . C. -t .t a r p . C. .. .. .... ~ g. ... ”3 «a. a». “a I .3.» v .ml in r. a...» a: :3 4.. «w «m u «we I. . iv; a . .: .\. .. ’>_ I . a . .x. .-.. . . Q. It! . ,. . . t . . . . .C .... .u 7.. » c - .. .. . w . . q a .w. u. . . ... . it 5.. P? .p .m. 2.. t a ..M... .w. p. . M~ r In. P J“. .v .5. . .. . e I... vi By I! a a «A» any . L. I I \l _ .C a o C __ . s .a . “a. n‘v av or .- I In In. .4, [V «.1 alt In! 1 ti" — D 0-. I.I.I . i“ A- Q— . -* IUJ A . A b V TABLE OF CONTENTS INTRODUCTION ................................................................................................... 1 \‘ICHAPTER 1 THE PROBLEM OF MOTIVATION .................................................. 4 Conceptual Views of Motivation ........................................................................ 4 The Current Context for Second Language Learning in the US. ...................... 8 Sociocultural Context ..................................................................................... 9 Pedagogical Context .................................................................................... 1 2 Personal Context ......................................................................................... 16 Affect and Motivation in Second Language Learning ...................................... 18 Biological Basis for Affect ............................................................................ 18 Group Dynamics .......................................................................................... 20 JCHAPTER 2 THE ROLE OF MUSIC AS LANGUAGE PLAY IN LANGUAGE LEARNING .......................................................................................................... 23 Language Play ................................................................................................ 23 The Concept of Language Play ................................................................... 23 The Importance of Play ................................................................................ 28 I Music as Language Play ................................................................................. 33 i; :,—7171‘4L)5Pattemed Language Play ............................................................................ 33 ”d" m 1.3, Music as Rhythm, Rhyme, and Repetition ................................................... 37 int} 'fi" " I‘ jMusic as Motivation ......................................................................................... 38 Wusic and Second Language Skills ................................................................. 42 ll Building Listening Skills ................................................................................ 42 iBuilding Speaking Skills ............................................................................... 48 CHAPTER 3 THE INVESTIGATION DESIGN .................................................... 55 Previous Research .......................................................................................... 55 Music and L2 Learning ................................................................................. 55 L2 Motivation and Classroom Activities ....................................................... 61 Need for Further Research .......................................................................... 62 Current Study .................................................................................................. 64 Research Questions .................................................................................... 64 Research Design ......................................................................................... 65 Data Collection ................................................................................................ 71 Initial Student Survey ................................................................................... 71 Daily Evaluations ......................................................................................... 76 Motivation Questionnaire ............................................................................. 83 Interviews ..................................................................................................... 85 CHAPTER 4 STUDENT SECOND LANGUAGE BACKGROUND ...................... 90 Exposures to L2 .............................................................................................. 90 Prior L2 Study .............................................................................................. 90 Early Life Exposures to Other Languages or Cultures ................................. 91 Exposure through Family ............................................................................. 98 Exposure through Travel ............................................................................ 100 vi I» "’1; 7 l’ ‘5' I'Ii" b I .L-'* W“ I" no A,“ ’43; r ""“Un I Motivations for Second Language Learning .................................................. 102 Perceptions of Second Language Experiences ............................................. 106 Summary of Findings .................................................................................... 111 \IDHAPTER 5 PERCEPTIONS OF CLASS ACTIVITIES .................................... 115 Student Responses to Daily Evaluations ....................................................... 115 Listening ..................................................................................................... 116 Singing ....................................................................................................... 128 Composing ................................................................................................. 136 Summary of Responses to Music Activities ............................................... 139 Tracking of Student Responses from the Initial Survey ................................. 141 Most/Least Helpful ..................................................................................... 142 Most/Least Participate ............................................................................... 144 Discussion of Tracking Results .................................................................. 145 Summary and Discussion of Findings ........................................................... 147 CHAPTER 6 MOTIVATIONS FOR SECOND LANGUAGE LEARNING ........... 152 Social Context for L2 Learning ...................................................................... 152 L2 for Immigrants ....................................................................................... 152 Second Language for All ............................................................................ 155 Specific Motivations for L2 Learning .............................................................. 158 Intrinsic Motivations ................................................................................... 158 Instrumental Motivations ............................................................................ 163 Integrative Motivations ............................................................................... 164 Comparing Motivation Responses ............................................................. 166 Affective Influences on L2 Learning .............................................................. 168 Comfort in Speaking .................................................................................. 168 Expectancy for Success ............................................................................. 169 \JL2 Anxiety ..................................................................................... - ............. 172 VMotivational Strength ................................................................................. 174 Cooperativeness/Community ..................................................................... 1 75 \/Music Attitudes ........................................................................................... 177 Summary of Findings .................................................................................... 199 \J CHAPTER 7 INDIVIDUAL STUDENT PERCEPTIONS ON LANGUAGE LEARNING AND MUSIC ................................................................................... 205 L2 Learning Background ............................................................................... 205 Beginning L2 Instruction ............................................................................ 205 Initial Attitudes toward L2 Learning ............................................................ 206 L2 Difficulties .............................................................................................. 207 Motivations for Second Language Learning .................................................. 209 Utilitarian Motivations ................................................................................. 210 Other Influences on Second Language Learning ...................................... 212 Value of Music for Second Language Learning ............................................. 213 Motivation to Participate ............................................................................. 214 Support for Second Language Skills .......................................................... 218 Building Community ................................................................................... 222 Summary of Findings .................................................................................... 223 vii \ICHAPTER 8 DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSIONS ........................................... 226 Social Context for Second Language Learning ............................................. 226 Motivations for Second Language Learning .................................................. 229 Value of Music Activities for Second Language Learning ............................. 232 Composing Activity ..................................................................................... 233 Music and Second Language Skills ........................................................... 236 Music and Participation .............................................................................. 238 Need for Further Research ............................................................................ 239 Focused Attention and Value ..................................................................... 240 Din .............................................................................................................. 241 Conclusion ..................................................................................................... 242 APPENDICES ..................................................................... ' .............................. 244 Appendix A Cover Letter to Students ............................................................ 245 Appendix B Student Consent Form ............................................................... 247 Appendix C Cover Letter to Parents of Minors .............................................. 249 Appendix D Parental Consent Form .............................................................. 251 Appendix E Cover Letter to the College ........................................................ 253 Appendix F Follow Up Letter Asking for Research Assistant ........................ 254 Appendix G Initial Student Survey ................................................................. 255 Appendix H Initial Student Survey Results Sample ....................................... 257 Appendix I Student Daily Evaluations ............................................................ 258 Appendix J Guidelines for Composing Activity .............................................. 259 Appendix K Revised Daily Evaluation Form ................................................. 261 Appendix L Sample Daily Evaluations Spreadsheet 1 .................................. 262 Appendix M Sample Daily Evaluations Spreadsheet 2 ................................. 263 Appendix N Student Survey on Motivation and Activity Preferences (Design) ...................................................................................................................... 264 Appendix 0 Student Survey on Motivation and Activity Preferences (Actual) ...................................................................................................................... 273 Appendix P Interview Protocol for Students .................................................. 280 Appendix Q Interview Sign Up Letter ............................................................ 282 Appendix R Cell Numbers Containing Student Responses Regarding Motivation for L2 Learning (Sorted by Code) ................................................. 283 Appendix S Consistency of Responses to Listening Activities by Student Code ...................................................................................................................... 284 Appendix T Singing Responses by Student Code ......................................... 285 Appendix U Comparison of Some Data from Initial Survey with Responses on Class Evaluations .......................................................................................... 286 Appendix V Motivation Questionnaire: Question Number and Mean by Category ........................................................................................................ 287 Appendix W All Question Items with Significant Correlations with DIN Questions ...................................................................................................... 289 REFERENCES .................................................................................................. 291 viii LIST OF TABLES Table 1 Reliability Scores for the Motivation Questionnaire ................................ 86 Table 2 Duration of Exposure for Earliest Cross-Cultural and Cross-Lingual Experiences ........................................................................................................ 93 Table 3 Age at Earliest Cross-Cultural/Cross-Lingual Experience ...................... 94 Table 4 Comparison of Same Experience vs. Distinct Experiences for Cross- Cultural or Cross-Lingual Encounters ................................................................. 96 Table 5 Family Members with Second Language Fluency .................................. 99 Table 6 Travel to Places that Provided L2 Exposure ........................................ 100 Table 7 Places Visited that Provided L2 Exposure ........................................... 102 Table 8 Motivations for L2 Learning (General) .................................................. 103 Table 9 Motivations for L2 Learning (Specific) .................................................. 104 Table 10 Positive or Negative L2 Experiences in the Past ................................ 106 Table 11 Negative Aspects of Foreign Language Learning .............................. 109 Table 12 Responses for Music Activities .......................................................... 116 Table 13 Responses for Listening Activities ..................................................... 117 Table 14 Categories and Responses for Listening: Least Helpful .................... 119 Table 15 Consistency of Least Helpful Responses for Listening ...................... 121 Table 16 Most Participate Responses according to Song ................................ 124 Table 17 Responses for Listening Activities by Question ................................. 127 Table 18 Responses for the Singing Activity ..................................................... 128 Table 19 Categories for Least Helpful Responses for Singing ......................... 130 Table 20 Singing Response Combinations by Student Code ........................... 134 Table 21 Responses for Composing Activity .................................................... 137 Table 22 Responses for All Music Activities ..................................................... 140 ix Table 23 Responses for All Music Activities for Negative L2 and Low Expectancy . ......................................................................................................................... 1 42 Table 24 Negative L2 Students’ Responses to Music Activities for Most Participate ......................................................................................................... 146 Table 25 Responses Regarding Importance of L2 (in Percents) ...................... 153 Table 26 Correlations for Value of L2 (Part I) ................................................... 155 Table 27 Correlations for Value of L2 (Part II) .................................................. 157 Table 28 Responses for Specific Motivations for L2 Learning (in Percents) ..... 159 Table 29 Correlations for the Importance of the Course Material ..................... 160 Table 30 Responses for Current L2 Study (Intrinsic Motivation) (in Percents) .161 Table 31 Correlations for Current L2 Study ...................................................... 162 Table 32 Responses for Instrumental Orientation for L2 Learning (in Percents) 63 Table 33 Responses for Integrative Orientation (in Percents) .......................... 165 Table 34 Responses for Various Motivation Questions (in Percents) ............... 167 Table 35 Correlations for Comfort in Speaking ................................................. 170 Table 36 Correlations for Expectancy ............................................................... 171 Table 37 Correlations for Language Aptitude ................................................... 172 Table 38 Correlations for Anxiety ...................................................................... 173 Table 39 Correlation Coefficients for Motivational Strength .............................. 175 Table 40 Correlations for Community ............................................................... 177 Table 41 Responses for Music Activities (in Percents) ..................................... 179 Table 42 Responses for Song Types (in Percents) .......................................... 181 Table 43 Correlations for Crossing Cultures and Song Types .......................... 183 Table 44 Correlations for Affective Responses ................................................. 185 Table 45 Correlations for L2 Skills and Music ................................................... 186 Table 46 Correlations for Din with Music Value and L2 Enjoyment .................. 191 Table 47 Items Showing Negative Correlations with DIN Items ........................ 194 Table 48 Responses for Enjoyment and Value of L2 (in Percents) .................. 195 Table 49 Correlations for Enjoyment and Value ............................................... 197 xi LIST OF FIGURES Figure 1 Representation of Gardner’s Integrative Motivation Model .................... 5 Figure 2 Representation of Gardner‘s Concept of Motivation .............................. 6 Figure 3 Roots of Student Stress in the L2 Classroom .................................... 228 xii - .. '“ .155! a- -- -d'. -. u h' any—4Q. ‘ ‘ 4 . 4"th v _. ..D-D. . - auv' . J ’P-.F\o f. b l ’ >54 aha-.8] all ( E C 4 (I) -1 . 0 . . 1“". - rig“: l»: ’ i .; CI».-. J. Jr- Ila! c :‘T’cr ‘L. w- ‘AI ‘2; 'rfl a .., i, . A 3 £1...J P \ A . MUS!) “'h ‘I: -‘.. ‘Ii “X'v., I" .. .:\r I-‘ «,9: . " .1 , 4" \- n1"; ’_ V 1 M iii- 4 '. h "4' " c: ' ‘ ' V'dr';r‘ «'3‘. - ‘4: arr , 3, it. 1' I". ’1 .w.‘ l, '- ,jIC N A .v )IQJ " Only through songs does our pain on earth subside. (Nahuatl expression)’ Many students struggle with Ieaming a second language (L2). Due to the college and university requirement of one or two years of foreign language2 study for graduation, many students experience anxiety and frustration. This is augmented by the fact that we live in, what is for the majority of Americans, a monolingual society. Fluency in a second language is not expected, nor is it broadly encouraged. Second language instruction is not a priority since today’s sociocultural context promotes monolingualism as the norm. Compounding this problem of Ieaming an L2 in a monolingual society is the current academic context in second language instruction that emphasizes communicative competence. Ironically, although most students are raised in a culture that sees no need to communicate in a second language, when students enter the second language classroom, many are required to spend a significant amount of class time developing the (somewhat frightening) oral/aural skills of speaking and listening. No longer can a language student merely translate a Spanish short story in the quiet of his room. Today, students in second language 1 Nahuatl expression, from J. Bierhorst, Cantares mexicanos/Songs of the Aztecs, translated from Nahuatl. Stanford: Stanford University Press, 1985 p. 213. 2 There are currently discussions regarding the terminology foreign language and second language (and, now, world language). In this paper both foreign and second will be used to discuss the study of a language other than one’s native language and will be abbreviated L2. A- ' ’p I: O. — P _ -D' ‘ ,A \V’ i. -- .9. -a‘ ’1 .p. \P ud“- I. _ u -a- A“ ‘- Javd- " _ v .- -~" ". ._ 'b' N v --~-»d- ""’ -' --- ’- s“ " -.-- .54 F 4 1‘. L—( i i v]! .3 ~' I t -\ g V... ’ :A ‘q-I.‘ i’ "v u! - ' ‘ 5 b4 B'ni— ‘ c. 3': L or S ~i' .‘ ‘ ‘ .2 I‘d. 7‘7" . .u. pl .‘4 .2.- as in bi; an t ,= "i 5 T“ 01 [he 3“" up! :-.l woo-«‘7‘». " :vU'r N:.. JL' classrooms work to develop more than interpretive skills; they also work to develop interpersonal and presentational skills in the target language. It seems plausible to suggest that the lack of societal support for second language Ieaming together with the current communicative focus on oral/aural language skills may combine to create a personal context of anxiety for today’s college student facing a second language requirement for graduation. This complex interweaving of contexts may produce a negative effect on Ieaming and, specifically, on important affective factors in Ieaming like student motivation. How can teachers encourage students to get beyond the fears and to enjoy the richness of L2 Ieaming? How can instructors motivate students to enjoy the language when they are merely fulfilling a college requirement? In light of the sociocultural context, the academic context, and the resultant personal context for second language Ieaming, there is a need to seriously ponder the role that music as language play can have in increasing student motivation, as well as in building important language skills needed for both oral and written communication. This research study investigates qualitative and quantitative data from college students concerning their perceptions of their language Ieaming context and of the affective and cognitive effects of musical modes of instruction in a required intermediate L2 course. The study was conducted in two college intermediate-level Spanish classes of which I was the instructor. To gather data I used four data collection instruments: an initial student survey regarding L2 background; student evaluations of class activities over several weeks; a survey regarding motivation for language study and preferences for class activities; and, finally, interviews with several individual students. The study parallels previous (quantitative) studies in its focus on the effects of music on various aspects of L2 Ieaming. However, the current study goes beyond the previous studies by viewing the process of language Ieaming from the student perspective to determine which class activities the students view as helpful to language Ieaming and by focusing on the connection between student motivation and preference for music activities. Before looking at the research specifics, it is important to understand the theoretical importance of student motivation, the current context for L2 Ieaming, the role that student affect may play in motivation, and the concept of music as language play. CHAPTER I THE PROBLEM OF MOTIVATION Conceptual Views of Motivation In order to determine what it is that motivates, it is necessary to consider current concepts of motivation. This section will include a look at a socioeducational model of second language acquisition as well as a process- oriented approach. In his socioeducational model of second language acquisition, Gardner (2001) defines motivation as “the driving force in any situation” (p. 6) and suggests a model for motivation in second language Ieaming, called integrative motivation. Gardner’s (Masgoret & Gardner, 2003) integrative motivation model is made up of three components: integrativeness, attitudes toward the Ieaming situation, and motivation. In this model, integrativeness and attitudes toward the Ieaming situation are correlated variables that support the third variable, motivation (see Figure 1). Motivation itself is made up of three elements: individual effort, desire to learn the language, and enthusiasm (positive affect). Gardner (2001) summarizes the model by saying, “The integratively motivated individual is one who is motivated to Ieam the second language, has a desire or willingness to identify with the other language community, and tends to evaluate the Ieaming situation positively” (p.6). MOTI VA TION THE - EFFORT INTEGRATIVELY MOTIVATED - ENTHUSIASM INDIVIDUAL - DESIRE (I) (I) LU s @525 E 23%: '_ — < < D E tags (5 < I- LIJ '— Z Figure 1 Representation of Gardner’s Integrative Motivation Model From a meta-analysis investigation designed to test hypotheses supported by data obtained in his previous research on motivation, Gardner (Masgoret & Gardner, 2003) concludes that each of the variables—attitudes toward the Ieaming situation, integrativeness, motivation, integrative orientation (Ieaming an L2 in order to identify with the L2 community), and instrumental orientation (Ieaming an L2 for pragmatic reasons)—has a positive relationship to second language achievement. Furthermore, “motivation is more highly related to second language achievement than either of the other four variables” (p. 205). However, the three components that make up Gardner's (2001) concept of motivation may pose a problem in regard to some L2 instructional contexts (see Figure 2). He says that motivation is made up of three elements: individual effort, desire to Ieam the language, and enthusiasm. Considering the fact that A V «G if"- .‘d . ..s «n. Fiu'rez Repre 3" .I” v i (.1 his 3‘. I F .n V mi many college students in beginning or intermediate second language classes are only there to fulfill a college graduation requirement, one must realize that at least two (maybe all three) of these variables could be sorely lacking. Many students in core second language classes have no desire to Ieam the language and therefore do not approach the class with enthusiasm. Any individual effort applied to Ieaming is simply an effort to keep up the GPA. -------------- INDIVIDUAL EFFORT----—---------- Figure 2 Representation of Gardner's Concept of Motivation A related question regarding Gardner’s model pertains to one of the three elements of motivation. Of what does Gardner’s enthusiasm consist? Does enthusiasm come from within the student or from without? And how does enthusiasm impact motivation and ultimately affect L2 achievement? Can outside factors influence a person’s enthusiasm for L2 Ieaming? If Gardner’s (2001; Masgoret & Gardner, 2003) model—that motivation is a key factor in second language Ieaming; that motivation is a combination of desire to Ieam, individual effort, and enthusiasm; and that attitudes toward the Ieaming situation can support motivation—holds true, then, it points to two important concerns for the core L2 classroom. First, in a core L2 class there will most certainly be a number of students that are lacking the desire and the enthusiasm for L2 Ieaming, in other words, lacking motivation. Second, the lack of motivation will likely impact the amount of L2 Ieaming that takes place. Thus, it is imperative to Ieam more about what it is that motivates students and how an educator might influence attitudes toward the Ieaming situation that can then, in turn, support student motivation. In addition to Gardner’s integrative motivation, several other motivation constructs may be helpful. Ushioda considers motivation not so much an attribute that an individual either possesses or does not, but rather a process (2001). She views motivation as “the ongoing process of how the learner thinks about and interprets events in the relevant L2—leaming and L2-related experience and how such cognitions and beliefs then shape subsequent involvement in Ieaming” (p. 122). In the same vein, Domyei (2003b) states that motivation is a “multifaceted construct” and that contextual factors may influence how motivation is activated. As such, the “dynamic character and temporal variation” of L2 motivation must be considered (Démyei, 2003a). He says that “learners tend to demonstrate a fluctuating level of commitment even within a single lesson, and the variation in their motivation over a longer period (e.g., a whole academic term) can be .3 .2. 4 .3 .v. I I. v .3 l5rld 0| “’59 in L2 Q.”- 'I’JIQ'JrIaI' SEAL” in iv? 2.97.91. “In” “7‘35 as Language teaching is not universally regarded as a profession—that is, as having unique characteristics, as requiring specialized skills and training, as being a lifelong and valued career choice, and as offering a high level of job satisfaction. (1994, p. 40 quoted in Jacques, 2001, p. 187) This attitude, if widespread, certainly has a trickle-down effect for students of foreign language. Thus, American students receive limited exposure to second languages and little encouragement from the society at large for foreign language Ieaming. Many college students may be taking a foreign language class simply because it is a core requirement, not because they are motivated to Ieam the language or understand the culture. For many of them, doing well in a second language class has more to do with a concern for GPA than it has to do with a life vision that would include utilizing that knowledge for personal or for societal benefit. In addition to this Iess-than-supportive national reality, the process of L2 Ieaming in a classroom can be less than appealing to college students. Pedagogical Context On the whole our societal leaning is not toward the view that the ability to understand or communicate in a second language is a necessity. Even though interest in L2 Ieaming appears to be increasing (due in part to current issues of national security along with changes in US. demographics), it will take a while for attitudes and behaviors to catch up, if they manage to at all. As in any realm of life, moving against the current proves to be not only challenging, but downright stressful. In addition, the movement in second language Ieaming to approaches that include more L2 output may make the experience even more 12 a .7. A—v iv :. .u HI i - III I .: a. E .. n. .E .. C 5. r. .3 z. .. .9 .. . c .3 .J a... ”a. ... ~ .3 W .H. ”W .nfi difficult for students emotionally and psychologically. Arnold and Brown (1999) claim that there are few, if any, disciplines in the curriculum which lay themselves open to anxiety production more than foreign or second language Ieaming. There is a great deal of vulnerability involved in trying to express oneself before others in a shaky linguistic vehicle. (p. 9) They further assert that approaches with a focus on communication, and especially those involving questions of a personal nature, such as feelings, can greatly increase the anxiety felt by the student. In high stakes settings involving grades or other evaluative practices anxiety levels rise even more. (I will take a closer look at anxiety later in the section on personal context.) The concern for pedagogical context is evident in a conceptualization of motivation proposed by Clément, Domyei, and Noels (1994) in which an appraisal of the classroom environment (including group cohesion) is one of the important factors that has a profound influence on a student’s motivation, communication behavior, and the language Ieaming process (see also Maclntyre, Clement, Domyei, & Noels, 1998). In the same vein, McGroarty (2001) cautions that “school and classroom environments are not necessarily neutral or uniformly supportive of L2 mastery, even when a second language is the explicit focus of instruction” (p. 77). Haley (2001) asserts that an instructor's choice of instructional strategies and the way information is presented in class has an impact on student Ieaming, student attitudes, and the Ieaming environment. Part of the problem may stem from our cultural beliefs about motivation. 13 What is at the root of a student’s motivation? While one might think that a child’s interests are based primarily on his/her personality and natural abilities, Suzuki teaches in his music instruction method that abilities are determined first of all by environment and training, rather than heredity (Peak, 1998). With that in mind, when children are required to Ieam subjects in which they may not have automatic interest, Japanese folk psychology promotes planning a careful introduction to the subject in a way best suited to stimulate motivation in the child. Peak states, Because a high level of student effort is seen as indispensable for the teaching process to translate into the development of abilities, the child’s level of motivation is not left to the vagaries of individual differences and chance, but consciously maximized before beginning the teaching process. (p. 353) In music that may mean letting the child hold the instrument, listen to music, try some notes, or watch a parent Ieam to play. Although some of those introductions may not find parallels in language Ieaming, the concept is important to grasp. Foreign language instructors cannot control a student’s Ieaming goals nor his/her (lack of) desire to Ieam an L2, but instructors do control the activities brought into the classroom. Language instructors can plan activities and approaches to the L2 that will pique interest and encourage motivation with and engagement in the language (Morley, 2001). Chomsky (1988) makes this claim: “The truth of the matter is that about 99 percent of teaching is making the students feel interested in the material” (p. 14 it tasted in l :zdeawayt Center: 5.22:3 and ; 'ETJa? Fla—re 5: 333.1963; PE emotion he a M What lm 9,333 on and‘ m .5263 at pedagn, ACCOrdir: ”Eran/I64 mills. Claf '1 \Jv V. law Mtg 181, quoted in Arnold & Brown, 1999, p. 13). Music in the classroom may provide a way to accomplish that. Concern for the attitude and interest of students is not new. Many educators and scholars have recognized the need to tap into the students’ natural interests in order to obtain focused attention and motivation (Dewey, 1938, 1963; Peak, 1998; Perrone, 1998). This is due not only to the realization that emotion has an effect on Ieaming (Paine, 1990), but also to the importance of teaching to the whole child in order to avoid any separation and/or differentiation of heart and body (Sato & McLaughlin, 1992). An old proverb ties in to this idea: Whatever the hand finds to do, the heart should go forth in unison. What implications does the connection between motivation and classroom context have for educators? Nunan (1992, in Broner & Tarone, 2001, p. 368) calls for more research in actual classrooms in order to document what actually goes on and, thus, to shed light on the processes involved in second language acquisition (SLA). Schmidt and Watanabe (2001) emphasize the current lack of research into possible connections between students’ motivation and their attitudes toward various aspects of L2 pedagogy. “It seems intuitively likely that depending on one’s motivation for Ieaming a language one might prefer different types of pedagogical activities” (p. 316). According to Jacques, the study of motivation factors and preference for instructional activities will be facilitated by qualitative research, including student interviews, classroom observations, and longitudinal research (2001, p. 205). Similarly, McGroarty (2001) urges researchers to use qualitative and 15 Afiglr‘. A f’tcyégray “T 7' U ~F Yr we twa" .. D _'..f'lt“‘- "’- - l :2“ JP‘E'r'a . o. A ”f Effie-33"“: W ‘ I. 55.9.5 W .4. h . 3793.1‘1'8 i0 n Zimon due ltmunicaz: 3.9:? feqmre mmnicati. mmunicale Aiil‘f‘a ' ' NM Is the ixabuiary, < .\ Ban '1- J‘L‘l WOW-1‘5- 3 f’.‘ .r ' fry] OUI IRa‘ 'l‘p 5‘, 'US : Tn. 36” Thé c ’ .‘NE INC-rt. ECT‘I' ht v ' {‘1‘ Ian-CE p . . w ”films 8 ' ’E‘Sp, ' ‘ ~"’nc aflirf. ii ~ 42‘, tries . C’ 9 JM' :hfl fr . L‘. ,7],ij ' Jr 4: m ethnographic approaches in addition to popular quantitative techniques (p. 87) to move “towards identification of the varieties of motivating activity available in the instructional environment” (p. 82). McGroarty also claims that “the most productive directions for future work on L2 motivation as related to instructed Ieamers will come from research that examines aspects of instruction directly” (p. 78). Personal Context A third important element in the context for L2 Ieaming is the personal context. Despite the best efforts of theorists and practitioners to follow the directive to minimize student anxiety, the fact is that anxiety in the classroom is common due to the realities of the monolingual context of US. culture and of the communicative emphasis in L2 pedagogy. Students in L2 classes today are often required to listen for comprehension and to speak with the purpose of communication. Since listening in order to comprehend and speaking to communicate are oral/aural skills, there are no written cues on which to rely. Neither is there time to ponder correct forms or to search the dictionary for vocabulary. One must simply respond to keep the conversation going.4 This, for " Barber provides an interesting picture of this pressure in an account of her experience in Russia: “It turned out that the curators I was working with at The Hermitage in Leningrad spoke nothing but Russian. The first day l was tongue-tied, but by the third, I was getting along well enough. That is, we were managing to get the information back and forth to enjoy one another’s acquaintance, even though I was actually aware that l was making grammatical errors everywhere. But it was either that or hopelessly stall the conversation and the work. Any self- respecting adjective in Russian gives you on the order of forty possible categories of forms to choose from, according to case, number, gender, and animacy, not to mention long and short forms and declension classes. It you have to dive into this labyrinth to select a form consciously, you find when you surface proudly with your hard-won morpheme that the conversation is ten . miles down the road. Either that, or your interlocutor is sound asleep. Social pacing turns out to be more important than grammatical correctness, even in a scientific conversation.” [1980, p. 30] 16 d, T'P'\ ; :l’d- -' Sire-SS n . 'A‘R M’l 1933 hat-"Fl; lo 135:" artist). that is ti lower the l attumuialion l’lti are after students raised in a society where monolingualism is the accepted norm, can cause a great deal of stress. This is especially true for adult L2 Ieamers. While it is considered natural for young children to make mistakes in speech, adult Ieamers are more aware of and concerned for protecting their ego. “Post puberty Ieamers of a second language...often report inhibitions when pronouncing the language or trying to use it for communicate purposes,” according to Arnold and Brown (1999, p. 10). Stress and anxiety may have negative effect on student Ieaming (Arnold & Brown, 1999; Hilles & Sutton, 2001). Trosset (1986) in a study of Welsh Ieamers, claims that in Ieaming a new language, the somewhat temporary inability to talk, often results in feelings of inadequacy and shame. Gardner, Day, and Maclntyre (1992) suggest that anxiety may impair the language Ieaming process by consuming the attention and the cognitive resources that could otherwise be utilized for performance in the second language. The findings of their study suggest a negative correlation between motivation and anxiety, that is, the higher the anxiety felt in the language Ieaming environment, the lower the motivation on the part of the student. They further suggest that an accumulation of the effects of affective variables day after day could lead to distinct differences in the achievement attained in the language by students. Why are affective factors so powerful? 17 Affect and Motivation in Second Language Learning In considering the importance of the sociocultural, pedagogical, and personal factors in the current context for foreign language Ieaming, it may also be helpful to reflect more in depth on the relationship of various affective factors to L2 acquisition. In particular, this section will focus on the biological basis for affect and its link to student motivation. Also included is a discussion of how music connects to these basic issues of L2 Ieaming and the role that group dynamics may play in motivation. Biological Basis for Affect Emotion is a critical part of every stage of cognition, according to Jacobs and Schumann (1992), and the key to the biological connection between emotion and cognition is the amygdala (p. 294; see also Jacobs, 1988; Schumann, 1994). According to this model of cognition there are several neurological stages necessary for Ieaming (Schumann, 1994). First is the perception of the stimulus through the senses—auditory and visual, in the case of language. Next, the stimulus is evaluated on an emotional level by the amygdala. This appraisal is based on such factors as novelty, pleasantness (including past Ieaming experiences associated with it), congruence with goals or needs, coping mechanisms, and self-image or social image. The amygdala then transmits nerve signals which allow for a certain amount of attention to be focused on the stimulus and direct sensory information into the long-term memory. The information in the long-term memory can be retrieved for later use. Thus, the amygdala serves as an emotional regulatory filter to determine what 18 attention is paid to what stimuli and what the learner will remember from the encounter. / This view has three major implications for second language Ieaming (Schumann, 1994). First, Ieaming is directly connected to attention and the focusing of one’s attention. Second, the focusing of attention is related to motivation. Third, motivation is related to an emotional appraisal of the stimulus. Therefore, since emotion, attention, and Ieaming are interrelated and inseparable parts of cognition, taking affective factors into account may help educators provide optimal Ieaming experiences for students. Ely (1986) makes a clear case for concern about affective factors in the L2 classroom. In his study on student discomfort in language Ieaming situations, language class discomfort was found to be a negative predictor of both language class risktaking and language class sociability. In other words, the more anxiety a student feels in the foreign language classroom, the less s/he will exhibit risktaking or sociable behaviors, both of which are considered necessary for second language Ieaming. Ely states, The fact that a negative causal relationship was found between Language Class Discomfort and Language Class Risktaking suggests that simply exhorting students to take more risks and participate more may not be effective. Apparently, before some students can be expected to take linguistic risks, they must be made to feel more psychologically comfortable and safe in their learning environment. To this end, classroom teachers may wish to devise and test the relative effectiveness of various strategies for lessening Language Class Discomfort. As 19 students come to feel more secure, they can then be encouraged to assume a more active role in the classroom. (p. 22-3, emphasis added) Thus, it is important for practitioners to find ways to minimize the anxiety that students experience in order that they be free to participate and, through such participation, to Ieam. In determining what can be done to combat the amount of anxiety felt in foreign language Ieaming, Bell (1981) makes a connection between theories of positive reinforcement and the lowering of anxiety in the foreign language class. He suggests the use of reciprocal inhibition, that is, “the use of a non-anxiety provoking situation in the presence of an anxiety-producing stimulant in order to lower and eventually eliminate the power of the anxiety-provoking stimulant” (p. 90). Bell asserts that music in the language classroom may be an important key to accomplishing this task. I Group Dynamics One specific aspect of motivation that connects with both the personal context and the pedagogical context is that of group dynamics (Domyei, 1994a in Jacques, 2001). Group dynamics, though not readily recognized by researchers as relevant to teaching, is a fundamental factor in Ieaming contexts and “very much at the heart of the affective dimension of the L2 Ieaming process” (Domyei & Malderez, 1999, p. 156). A student’s sense of belonging to the classroom group along with the inner cohesion of the group can play a key role in second language use (Tarone & Swain, 1995). Stevick considers group dynamics to be a critical aspect in language Ieaming. He says that in a language course “success depends less on materials, techniques and linguistic analyses, and 20 more on what goes on inside and between the people in the classroom” (1980, p. 4 in Démyei & Malderez, 1999, p. 155). McGroarty (2001) takes a similar position on the importance of group dynamics. She claims that since the social relations in the classroom and the interactions between students can either “support, constrain, or inhibit Ieaming” (p. 83), the role of group dynamics must also be reflected in research that seeks to document tasks and activities that promote and support language Ieaming. She believes that those involved in language Ieaming have something to Ieam from current organizational psychology: Organizations such as the military and large corporations take the creation and maintenance of highly motivated groups or teams as one of the major challenges of leadership. It is also one of the major challenges of pedagogy, though not often recognized as such. (p. 84) The importance of group cohesion can be accounted for by its distinct effects on student motivation. Domyei and Malderez (1999) claim that group cohesion is the principle feature of a mature group and define it as “the extent to which individuals feel a strong identification with their group” (p. 164). It can serve to increase one’s obligation to the group and increase the productivity of the group, thus contributing to the group’s success. deyei and Malderez state that “perceived group cohesiveness contributes significantly to the leamers’ L2 motivation, which...enhances Ieaming success” (p. 164). As individual and/or group goals are achieved and Ieamers experience success, this in turn encourages positive attitudes. A cohesive group serves to acknowledge the resources that each member brings, thereby valuing what each one has to offer 21 a5 SEED-C :irajer 56' .AP‘. A ”:5 .aq’se O g'C-up (tyne -< IL“? ‘3‘“ ' Jre ac) TIC-59F l’aflo Sfifduslve lo 1’3chth I18) L2 learning; S detection be ” ’59“ all has 9+... . .Itlamlc of gr: afiguafi pla and allowing for L2 practice in an “unselfconscious, tolerant and ‘safe’” environment (p. 168). Domyei and Malderez (1999) suggest that initially time should be spent in building group cohesion and Aoki (1999) adds that once a sense of ‘groupness’ has been developed, it needs to be nurtured to stay vibrant. Similarly, though in a broader sense, lnbar, Donitsa-Schmidt and Shohamy (2001) advance the importance of the regular cultivation of student motivations and an investment in what Domyei and Otto term “motivational maintenance” (1998, p. 46). The results of a study by Clement, Domyei and Noels (1994) support the importance of group dynamics specifically in the context of foreign language Ieaming and, therefore, acknowledge the need to foster group development and cohesion through various activities in order to create a class atmosphere that is most conducive to Ieaming. This chapter began with a case for the importance of motivation in L2 Ieaming. Next, it discussed the critical nature of motivation in three contexts for L2 Ieaming: sociocultural, pedagogical, and personal. In addition, a case for the connection between affect and motivation was made through a discussion of the biological basis for the impact of emotion and affect in L2 Ieaming and the dynamic of group cohesion. The next chapter looks at the role of music as language play in motivation for language Ieaming. 22 TEE F»: Des: I313 3F mt .s'-:.3ge u: ¢Q~p_ .- __ . i,'rI 4 PIE ‘1 If? ’fflr . ---I_1 ,claCtL H . ~“nn, r .- "311:, ”CO chase-mew l.‘ PM. _ much nur 7 U ,anf _ d I m, 35*..- Ha« ”In . ' a CHJJGW CHAPTER 2 THE ROLE OF MUSIC AS LANGUAGE PLAY IN LANGUAGE LEARNING Language Play The Concept of Language Play Despite a current emphasis in foreign language education for a strong focus on meaning, on building communicative skills, and on ‘real’ or authentic language use,5 Broner and Tarone (2001) note that some language use is intended neither for transactional purposes (that is, to transmit information) nor for interactional purposes (that is to establish or maintain a social relationship). Rather it can be termed language play, using language forms or words for amusement or for rehearsal. Both of these aspects of language play, rehearsal and amusement, form an important part of the input children receive while acquiring their first language through nursery rhymes, poems, fairy tales, songs, and ‘pretend’ play. It may also provide an important source of input in second language classes. This section briefly summarizes some of the current focus in L2 pedagogy that acknowledges the importance of form rehearsal, and then looks at specific rehearsal and amusement aspects of play, and the appropriate nature of play in the educational setting. 5 Omaggio Hadley (2001) mentions these in her five guiding principles for the teaching of second language. 23 “-9“. {AISIIaR. :I... Itw ' "I .9“ ‘. 'wl S .- .', out“ w Ir. CC- I53” trig lS VI Meier to If h ’et'gfifil'v‘e sfrI .4 maggr HI Form Rehearsal Due to some popular language Ieaming theories, many practitioners are concerned primarily with meaning (rather than form) and ‘real’, or authentic language. Teachers have been encouraged to provide their students with plenty of “comprehensible input” which must contain sufficient quantities of interesting and relevant input that intentionally is not grammatically sequenced and that is comprehensible to the learner (Krashen, 1982 in Omaggio Hadley, 2001, p. 62). In Cognitive Theory, one can also see the emphasis on meaning over form. Ausubel distinguishes between “rote” and “meaningful” Ieaming. Rote Ieaming is viewed as “arbitrary and verbatim” in that the material is leamed as an isolated piece of information rather than being integrated into one’s “cognitive structure” and can be easily lost (Ausubel, Novak, and Hanesian, 1978 in Omaggio Hadley, 2001, p. 68). Meaningful Ieaming, on the other hand, is clearly superior to rote Ieaming in this view since it can be easily integrated into one’s cognitive structure by relating new information to what one already knows (Omaggio Hadley, 2001, p. 68). Consistent with this focus on meaning, Omaggio Hadley (2001) sets forth a series of five principles that are characteristic of an efficient and productive classroom environment. The first principle emphasizes “using language in a range of contexts likely to be encountered in the target culture” with an added emphasis on the use of “authentic language...wherever possible” (p. 90-91 ). Another of principle makes reference to practicing a “range of functions (tasks) likely to be necessary in dealing with others in the target culture” (p. 91). Nunan, in emphasizing such task-based instruction, defines a task as “a piece of 24 U l -‘-:A,—V r- “'~.-' 4 at: U "‘ fihfi’p an an A“ ' --~‘. " .— \u ,4 .9“- D ,4 . Hut ln , T41 ‘3-'J\, ‘v‘ r 5“” '35"; ,1, . 'I'Qnmflr vi classroom work which involves Ieamers in comprehending, manipulating, producing or interacting in the target language while their attention is principally focused on meaning rather than form” (Nunan, 1989, p. 10 in Cook, 2000, p. 162) However, despite this strong emphasis on meaning over form, other researchers and practitioners have acknowledged the importance of the inclusion of a focus on form. The goal of L2 instruction—appropriate improvement in L2 abilityQ—must include an emphasis in each of three areas according to Skehan and Foster (2001): fluency, accuracy and complexity. They claim that attentional limitations for the L2 leamer result in a competition for cognitive resources. Without adequate attention to form, it will be difficult for the learner to move to higher levels of accuracy. In this same line, Hulstijn (2001) advocates that drill and practice deserve a proper place in the curriculum alongside contextual Ieaming (see also Doughty, 2001; Sawyer & Ranta, 2001; Schmidt, 2001). Language Play as Rehearsal In regards to second language Ieaming, language play as rehearsal can be understood as mental rehearsal of unmastered L2 forms (Lantolf, 1997) and, as such, is not intended for communicative purposes. In this type of language play, Ieamers produce language for themselves during the interlanguage stage, within their Zone of Proximal Development (in Vygotskian terms) and use language in a way that goes beyond what they would produce in normal daily behavior. This allows the leamer to practice a new skill in a non-threatening environment. In Lantolf’s view, language play as rehearsal diminishes when the 25 w” "r In: rah, Researc in? :i. proficie- Ia: the unqae ‘15:? ahead all 373', be that 3 2135319091“ 9X :tztex‘. in my less equal loelr.’ Another III: lamuage r elrbIecIs leamm Li.” , ween the an Stores Ill the cl; léexpenment. Morley Isle-meg mode should not be 5381' as we ' Seine W5 3‘ forms are mastered, although he reports in his study that the advanced foreign language students manifested a higher mean score for language rehearsal than did the beginning and intermediate students (1997, p. 11). Several studies shed light on the rehearsal aspect of language play. Research evidence for students rehearsing language above their normal level of proficiency was shown in a study conducted by Saville-Troike who found that the unique English utterances used by children in their private speech was “well ahead of their social production” (1988, p. 585, cited in Lantolf 1997, p. 8). It may be that singing in the L2 classroom could provide a framework for behaving (or expressing) beyond normal levels of spoken fluency. In fact, Hilles and Sutton (2001) suggest that the use of songs in the classroom can provide a context in which students of varying proficiencies “can participate on a more or less equal footing” (p. 393). Another study by Ramsey (1980, cited in Lantolf 1997, p. 9) found that loud language rehearsing while studying alone was universal among adult subjects Ieaming Basque. She further noted that there was a strong correlation between the amount of sound produced and the learners’ final achievement scores in the class. The more unsuccessful Ieamers remained silent for most of the experiment. Morley (2001) claims that self-dialogue (or, autodirectional communicative listening mode) can serve as an important feature of language Ieaming and should not be ignored. “Sometimes we re-create language internally and “listen again’ as we retell and relive communicative interludes” (p. 73). Perhaps this same type of listening again, or even singing again, occurs through the tones 26 ‘- :::.A". 9f“ “Andi: " It A .3 gfié‘e PE TI:e 56'- Blff!& TalC' 2'78 grwp. La :trthue than even the most I" II It. gy. and life I: K ..s..:on, thoug? traits and ch. and e i . Leehtler {9.192). and words that linger in the mind after singing or listening to music in class and may help to reinforce L2 Ieaming. Lyczak (1979, in Murphey, 1990) suggests that even silent subvocal rehearsal is a “primary mechanism for getting information into long-term memory and making it available for later recall” (p. 87) and that it “may be a more potent factor in second language Ieaming than language teachers had heretofore imagined” (p. 88). Bedford (1985), tenning the activity “spontaneous playback,” explains that “in every case, the individuals reporting on this type of experience associate the phenomenon with greater ease of speaking the language” (p. 280). Language Play as Amusement The second type of language play, ludic language play (Hymes, 1972 in Broner & Tarone, 2001), is intended for fun or amusement, whether privately or in a group. Language play as amusement involves any combination of sounds, words, or phrases that have no obvious communicative intent (Cook, 2000). Far from being only child’s play (and serving as an aid to initial linguistic development), Cook maintains that the playful uses of language actually continue throughout our adult lives (p. 11). Evidence for this can be found in even the most serious of adult discourses, such as political rhetoric, prayers, liturgy, and literature, all using repetitive and rhythmic language in a play-like fashion, though certainly not considered playful or useless by their users (p. 4). Adults and children alike are fascinated by the attractiveness of language rhythm and repetition. Cook calls this “the persistence of delight in patterned language” (p. 192). 27 t xv" 113:: :5, {me O l v 1 ) (D ‘ (I) ~¢’ . m” n -I “Mb “I'Ia 1".“ :91 TI‘IEI'B l5 ‘eIe hetd torts t-ztzégshness. C If the conse w. *l e we! not to e useful I lack {255.0} s 3W. and $0; I? lip. 186). C95)? W Educ: M . . "bcdtlion er Stine ' The Importance of Play Perhaps talking about play in relation to academic Ieaming seems too frivolous in an era when the emphasis in language classrooms is on task-based activities and authentic language for authentic communication. ls play simply a waste of time or something in which only young children may engage? Could this be merely a means by which instructors attempt to entertain their students in order to obtain gracious end-of—semester evaluations? Sutton-Smith maintains that this “triviality barrier” has impeded any serious study of (language) play (1970) There is historical evidence that illustrates the negative attitude some have held toward play in schooling. Work was esteemed, but play was foolishness. Oriard notes the following warning that appeared in a 1851 edition of the conservative New Englander: We were sent into this world, not for sport and amusement, but for labor, not to enjoy and please ourselves, but to serve and glorify God, and be useful to our fellow men. (1991, p. 11) Cook (2000) suggests that this historical view sees play “as something immature, trivial, and superfluous, an appendage to be tagged on to the serious business of life” (p. 186). A contrasting view on play is apparent in the writings of Comenius, a 16th century educational reformer and “one of the greatest figures in the history of education” according to Smith and Carvill (2000, p. 39). Comenius described the ideal school as a “garden of delight” for God (p. 50). He insisted that in educational settings Ieaming should be a pleasant experience; that both 28 :easxe and pie I:.:e1 as an If We; and pla Iiereek Parr. De thou. one arm effective dehgmr It‘lii‘zef SU gees from HUI; PIay IS 8 pr 0c€33 ImDOItar Inat‘ ‘ E» n 903‘s lr compgg ,- It, It; _ L.’ .V f; . '1 lug)“ E pleasure and play have positive value; and that play and enjoyment ought to be included as an important part of Ieaming (p. 49). This connection between learning and play (and piety) is evident in Comenius’ prayer used as the preface in his book Pampaedia: Do thou, everlasting wisdom, who dost play in this world and whose delight is in the sons of men, ensure that we in turn may now find delight in thee. Discover more fully unto us ways and means to better understanding of thy play with us and to more eager pursuance of it with one another, until we ourselves finally play in thy company more effectively to give increasing pleasure unto thee, who art our everlasting delight! Amen. (Pampaedia, introduction, p. 6, in Geissler 1959, pp. 103- 11, in Smith and Carvill, 2000, p. 50) Miller supports the proposition that play “has its aim in itself.” Based on ideas from Huizenga, Miller explains the importance of process in speech play: Play is activity, motor or imaginative, in which the center of interest is process rather than goal. There are goals in play, but these are of less . importance in themselves than as embodiment of the processes involved in attaining them. Process in play is not streamlined toward dealing with goals in the shortest possible way, but is voluntarily elaborated, complicated, in various patterned ways. (1973, p. 97) Thus, the process of play is the aim of the activity, despite any end-term goals there might also be. 29 -;' DZ IJ- ,-- g; «‘1 b '. .I'v“ - nut-I . ..A<‘- V-NIA. - lb‘ vu '7'11 "‘ \u.\ I- kerq I‘ y I" Cook (2000) suggests that an understanding of language play influence every aspect of teaching and Ieaming: the motivation, the Ieaming process, and the goals. He maintains that although we use our first language for transactional purposes, it is not developed through using it “exclusively for such purposes straight away, but largely indirectly, through the most useless uses of language imaginable: nursery tales and rhymes” (p. 153). As in child language acquisition, the end goal in second language Ieaming may not necessarily be the same as the means (or process) to get there. Furthermore, educators need to consider other questions when designing curriculum besides which language use best reflects the students’ work or “real world” needs, such as which language use is most interesting to students and which kinds of language use promote the acquisition of language structures? Cook (2000) calls for “much more investigation into what students like and want” (p. 160). He says, If language teaching were really to engage with a wide and representative sample of language use, it would include a far greater proportion of nonsense, fiction, and ritual, and many more instances of language use for aggression, intimacy, and creative thought. If personal importance, psychological saliency, and interest were taken into account in the selection of materials, then genres such as songs, soap operas, advertisements, rhymes, jokes, and prayers would figure equally with the ubiquitous discourse of business and polite conversation as the major source of teaching materials. (p. 193) 30 When people are free to choose, it is not the language from work that attracts them, “but that of songs, games, fictions, gossip, humour, aggression, intimate relations, and religion” (p. 159). Therefore, deciding what a learner needs without considering what s/he wants is misguided. Learning and work should not be viewed as inseparably intertwined. Rather, a play element should be added to L2 Ieaming and the three elements (Ieaming, work, and play) should be seen as three concurrent circles, each having areas of overlap with the others, having common elements, yet distinct. Functions of Play Cook (2000) points out three basic functions of play within human society. There are internal functions, social functions and Ieaming functions. Internjg functions. On the internal level, play serves as a system regulatory device, both monitoring and maintaining desirable internal states. Csikszentmihalyi (1975, 1997) refers to the effect of play as ‘flow’: a pleasurable sensation which functions in a way to regulate levels of activity and mood. Play is able to accomplish this regulatory function through the pleasure that it invokes, which derives from the balance in challenges and skills that one encounters during play. This skill challenge leads then to the intensity involved in self- absorption and self-awareness. On the individual level, play also serves to alleviate boredom and, in this way, reduces anxiety and raises the level of physical and/or mental activity in an individual. Social anCtions. Play can serve in various social functions (Cook, 2000). Play as a social function can serve in contrasting ways either to bring about cooperation between group members (through inclusion) or to create competition 31 p.05: .. ’9.- p .-,- \4 ‘<\— d 4 an; 3“ ‘J 'r--. L. between fellow members or against other groups (through exclusion). Play can also be instrumental in initial group formation. I Training functions. Finally, there are two ways in which play serves as a Ieaming process in training and in education. First, play allows difficult skills to be broken down into more manageable components that do not seem as formidable as the whole. Secondly, play serves a preparatory role in Ieaming whereby Ieamers are able to practice necessary activities without fear of serious consequences. Play may even promote both physical and mental flexibility and adaptability and can serve to construct a deeper understanding of the environment and a more creative response to it (Cook, 2000, p. 107). Benefits of Language Play Tarone sees several benefits to the use of playful language in language acquisition: a lowering of affective barriers; a destabilization of the interlanguage; creative and hypothetical uses of language for practice during the interlanguage stage; and the internalization of “many different voices appropriate to many different roles” (1999, in Cook, 2000, p. 175). It is the playful use of language that catches our attention and piques our interest. Cook (2000) states, There is a great deal in both personal experience and psycholinguistic research which suggests that...the instances of language use which people most readily memorize verbatim are not from the mundane discourses of everyday life, where exact wording is unimportant, but those marked by unusual, elevated, or archaic language, those reinforced by 32 parallel structures such as rhythm and rhyme, and those with important or emotional content. (p. 199) In L2 Ieaming, language play may serve to “make the L2 discourse more noticeable and thus more memorable, as it increases what Stevick calls ‘depth’ of memory due to the associations made through affective responses (1976, pp. 41-44, in Broner & Tarone, 2001, p. 375). Music as Language Play Children and adults alike are amused by and take pleasure in the patterns of language. There are three aspects of patterned language play that are related to music and, therefore, important to this study—rhythm, rhyme and repetition. Patterned Language Play Rhythm The rhythm of music and language are put into play almost as soon as a child is born through the language the mother and father use in caring for the child, such as rocking to sleep, special ‘baby’ language, lullabies, and nursery rhymes. There is even evidence that infants pay more attention to verse than to other spoken stimuli (Glenn & Cunningham, 1983). This exposure to simple rhythms and repetitions helps to emphasize grammatical boundaries in the linguistic system, provides the child with a model to imitate, and gives the child an opportunity to improve, through simple and repeated practice, his/her control over vocalization (Cook, 2000). As such, rhythm becomes part of the process by which language is learned. As mentioned earlier, this process allows “children to produce language way above 33 their current capacity, apparently with a great deal of pleasure” (p. 16) and lets them experience a sense of L2 fluency. Wilcox (1995) tells of a Ukrainian male, age 84, who spoke at a faster pace when he spoke the words of a song phrase (“working nine to five”) than when speaking other learned English utterances. Rhythm holds an important function in intimacy building and social coordination as well. It serves to develop a sense of fellowship, and it increases the ability for social coordination as evidenced in various public ceremonies such as parades, manual work, and in games (Turner, 1985, 1992). Rhythm plays a crucial role “in some of the most emotive and socially significant discourse types: especially prayer, poetry, and song” (Cook, 2000, p. 22). According to Turner (1985, 1992), the steady, simple beat of rhythm can increase memory power by serving as a mnemonic device. It may enable greater coordination between the right and left hemispheres of the brain. Glucklich views rhythm as “a source of comfort” in that it “allows us both to control and release our emotions....ln dance, chanting, poetry, and song, it may also alter the rhythms of our breathing, inducing both release of emotion and alteration on consciousness” (1997, p. 107-8, in Cook, 2000, p. 22). Rhyme Another aspect of language play is rhyme. Besides serving as a mnemonic device along with rhythm, rhyme functions in several critical ways in human society and in language Ieaming. Nursery rhymes in particular serve to bring intimate contact between the adult caregiver and the child even before the child is able to understand the language, thus satisfying the need for spoken interaction, through a natural response to rhythm (Turner, 1985, 1992). The 34 QI‘ 4 an.- n- 'It I I X 1.; child enjoys the sounds, the beat, and the interaction and accepts it as fun and as worthy of attention without needing definitions or explanations. In addition to providing for necessary social interaction, Cook (2000) suggests that the act of playing with language helps the child Ieam to identify basic linguistic units such as phonemes, syllables and grammatical segmentation, all a prerequisite to language acquisition. In this way the rhymes draw the child’s attention first to the forms of the language and later the child leams to associate meaning with it. The regular rhythm and predictable rhymes provide a way for the child to store in the memory difficult language and new ideas(p.27) Repetition A child’s language environment is saturated by repetition, from repeated beats in verse, to repetition of phrases or sentences (containing repetition of grammatical structures),6 to repeated viewing of the same video or repeating the same rhyme or joke. Stories also include the repetition of fictional events and children enjoy the predictability of the repeated structures. Music repeats rhythmic patterns, melodies, and chorus phrases. Finding great pleasure in repetition aids the child in Ieaming the pattems of language in many ways. Cook (2000) notes that hearing a story, song, or rhyme over and over allows the child greater time for processing both meaning and structure. Through the parallelism of grammatical structures, the child leams to isolate specific units of speech. Words to be learned are encountered 6 Cook comments that this feature of children’s stories (repetition of grammatical structures with minimal change in lexical pattern) is “uncannily similar to the substitution tables used as exercises in structural language teaching” (2000, p. 28). 35 E,n'fil‘ ,‘,_ ..u. . . , ‘lrm‘ "-- “f H\r . JU- I314 i\':" .J if A VII :6": I! ., 'Iflu‘ni I ‘r. . MHZ, in a linguistic and discourse context and serve to illustrate common collocations (words commonly used together) and colligations (connections between words or phrases). In this way children can begin to understand and use language chunks. The predictability offered by repetition creates an atmosphere that is more secure and relaxed for the child and which, in and of itself, may aid in receptivity of the language. Repetition of a story/verse/song or the repetition found within the structure of a story/verse/song provides multiple opportunities for re-exposure to forms and meanings. In regard to the value of repetition in L2 Ieaming, Hulstijn (2001) recommends repeated exposure to L2 texts in order to build automatic word recognition, since “lexical information simply must be reactivated regularly for it to remain quickly accessible” (p. 286). However, he laments the fact that “rereading or relistening to an old text will seldom be motivating to students because it does not contain any new information and therefore does not arouse their curiosity" (p. 283). An interesting point to ponder here is that the common act of repetition with children through re-exposure to song or story often comes at the request of the child to sing it, or tell it, again—all for the sheer pleasure of it! Though it naturally permeates a child’s linguistic environment, repetition is not just for children. Repetition is a key element in many highly valued adult discourses, such as prayers, liturgies, ceremonies, songs, advertisements, TV reruns, jokes, poems, films, stories (all repeated verbatim), often containing internal repetition in rhythm, parallelisms of sound and grammar, and recurring 36 «pc‘i‘! xxx; ,9. \ all .. I ‘PJ 0 u. (I‘D LU sections (Cook, 2000, p. 30). In fact, the rhythm, rhyme, and repetition of language play form an integral part of the adult world. Music as Rhythm, Rhyme, and Repetition Clearly, as music shares the qualities of rhythm, rhyme, and repetition, so music shares the benefits of each for language Ieaming. Specifically, the rhythm and rhyme of music serve to attract the listener through the patterning of sounds (even at a very young age), to point out grammatical boundaries and linguistic units, to draw attention to the forms of the language, to aid the memory with new and difficult language, to provide children and adults a model to imitate, and to give opportunity to vocalize with language sounds often beyond one’s current level of linguistic understanding. In addition, the rhythm of music increases the ability for social coordination, for intimacy, and for memory function; and serves as a source of emotional comfort. McGroarty (2001) points out the importance of the patterning of language for language Ieamers: By definition, L2 students have little proficiency in the language and must thus somehow manage to acquire a sufficient base in the language—its grammatical structures, vocabulary, knowledge of necessary functions and discourse conventions, awareness of relevant sociolinguistic patterns—to allow them to carry out engaging tasks. (p. 82) Music is one source of patterned language that may allow for a bridge between the student’s current capabilities and future goals and may provide the necessary support for L2 Ieamers by creating a Zone of Proximal Development 37 p-“A A yinv Ap- '- an 'F' F‘.‘l is: TI; ' 'F It s, h GI: in in which to practice language units before they have the proficiency to do so on their own. Music is defined by repetition, whether it be of a line, a phrase, a rhythmic pattern, a chorus, or the common request, “Let’s sing it again!” The enjoyment of singing a song is rarely as profound the first time a song is sung as it is in subsequent renditions. The fun is in singing it again and again (process) to conquer the challenge of Ieaming it and also in sharing it together. This repetition creates an atmosphere of security and harmony as well as allowing multiple re-exposures to both forms and meanings. The use of repetition for deliberate language Ieaming (as opposed to passive acquisition) is supported by Cook (2000). He claims that it would be helpful to encourage the enjoyment of various traditional Ieaming strategies such as rote Ieaming, repetition, and recitation since “a good deal of language is produced or understood via the deployment of ready-made chunks from memory without grammatical analysis” (p. 198-9; see also Ellis, 1996). This may help to explain a prime function of music in early language Ieaming. Music as Motivation In his studies with minority and illiterate students, Bell (1981) found music to be a great motivational factor. He comments, Nobody...has previously advanced a successful theory for motivating ordinary uninterested students in classes in the lower, though far more numerous, echelons of American education, i.e., the public schools. The answer for this group may lie in music, which induces alpha states, 38 excites, hypnotizes, holds, attracts, and othenlvise absorbs the attention of this population. (pp. 137-138) Thus, music may increase motivation through increasing a leamer’s psychological involvement (Miller, 1994). The rhythm, rhyme, and melody together create an enjoyable and satisfying context for language Ieaming that helps students relax and feel more at ease in the setting while stimulating their interest in Ieaming. On behalf of all students, L2 instructors owe a concerted effort to create the most motivating environment in which to study and master the sounds and structures of the language. Music has the added advantage of being a universal part of every culture, and as such, has already played an integral role in the leamer’s infancy, childhood, and teenage years. Studies suggest that the number of hours that teens listen to music (an estimated 10,500 hours during their secondary school years) is just under the total number of hours they spend in school over twelve years (Alley, 1988). This makes college students “experts” in popular music—an area in which they already feel competent and capable. The use of music to appeal to the power of emotions is far from unique. From the song-stories of the Iliad and the Odyssey (Kilpatrick, 1992) to the Civil Rights Movement (Reagon, 1998) to present day TV commercials7, the combination of rhythm, rhyme, and melody has been utilized for centuries to appeal to human emotions. Kilpatrick states that “music should be at the center 7 Recently I conducted an informal survey of music on TV commercials. In a one-half-hour span of television programming, there were 18 commercials. Only two had no music, suggesting that almost 90% of those sponsors recognize the power of music on the consumer. 39 of education. It does the best job of giving passions their due while forming them for something better” (p. 173). On a surface level, the impact of music on emotions and attitude come from a change of pace in the classroom, the relaxing of tensions, a pleasure stimulus8 in the less familiar setting of FL study, a non-threatening and high- interest activity (Alley, 1988; Bell, 1981) and the promotion of a general feeling of well-being (Merriam, 1964, and Keil, 1979, in Trehub, 2000). However, Yeoman (1996) moves us to think of the role of music in language Ieaming on an even deeper level. In order for students to engage in authentic dialogue in a second language they must make connections with the language at an emotional level. But since it is so difficult for students to communicate on a deep, affective level in a second language, songs may provide a tool for a beginning of emotive expression in the L2. Yeoman states, The use of poetry and music, particularly music, can be especially enriching aesthetically and affectively....From a linguistic point of view, they can be especially useful as a way of making traditional classroom activities such as structured listening exercises, dictations, and so on much more pleasurable and interesting. Like visual images, poems and songs can serve as generative themes, linking inner and outer speech for students struggling to communicate in a second language. (p. 607) Thus, not only can music be used for redirecting attitude in the classroom, it can also serve as an avenue for emotive expression in a context within which the ‘3 When my thirteen-year-old daughter lacerated her ankle, she requested that we sing together while watching the doctor stitch up the wound. 4O ..--I .1} f\ . qfu '- ll , I V ’7’” III a. . ",' Jun, 9X2? articulation of emotion can be so difficult. The use of music in the classroom allows students to “experience the intense emotions stirred up by music, explore the imagination, feel the connections between music and every other aspect of human life,” according to Ovando, Collier, and Combs (2003, p. 113). One aspect of motivation involves a student’s acculturation or identity in relation to the target culture (Gardner, 2001). Foreign language instructors do not intend for their students to remain in the relative comfort of the classroom, but rather to immerse themselves in the target culture. How do we prepare them? One way may be to immerse them in the music of the culture9 (Jackendoff, 1994). According to Alley (1988), songs are the “most authentic expression of the life of a people” (p. 42). Through songs students can Ieam about current interests of the target culture, social problems, fads, traditional values, history, customs, and poetry. Songs are culturally unique, yet universal in applicability and appeal (Whittaker, 1981 in Alley, 1988). Jolly (1975) connects the cultural aspect of songs to the emotive aspect which they inspire: The use of songs also gives students the opportunity of acquiring a greater understanding of the cultural heritage which underlies the target language. Songs are often written to express the deeper feelings of the people. The subjects of. songs tend to be those things or ideas to which the stronger emotions are tied, whether it be joy or sorrow, love or hate. 9 Jackendoff notes that it “takes a certain amount of exposure to music in an unfamiliar style before it starts making sense” (p. 168). All the more reason to begin acculturating students to the sounds of the culture in the L2 classroom! 41 a; - Songs become then a direct avenue to the basic values of the culture. (p. 14) In this regard, as songs reflect the heart and soul of a culture, they also reflect the heart and soul of humanity, expressing common emotions and reactions to life’s struggles. Music may be able to build on the common emotions shared by all humans to bridge the gap between cultures. Music and Second Language Skills Along with the current focus on building communicative competence CoInes an emphasis on improving one’s listening and speaking skills in the f0l'eign language. In the Middle Ages, students would have learned the sounds and rhythms of Latin orally in a “song school” (following the “natural order" of 'anguage Ieaming) before they would begin formal study of the language (Kelly, 1 969). Today, as well, music can enhance both listening and speaking activities. Building Listening Skills While listening to a foreign language may be perceived as a relatively Uchreatening situation due to its seemingly passive nature, this is far from the tmth. Though a student may find sheltered or ’safe' listening situations in a classroom setting, any real-world listening to the second language will no doubt erlti—lil some logical and coherent response on the student’s part. This means S/he needs to understand what is said and how to properly respond, or s/he will stiffer personal embarrassment. Therefore, for many students, listening to a Second language, whether in a ‘safe’ classroom or out in a real life situation, rYerturally causes fear and anxiety. 42 Yet Ieaming the skill of listening is extremely important. Several researchers have noted a positive transfer from listening to both reading and speech production (Lyczak, 1979; in Murphey, 1990; Kadota, 1987). In fact, many studies support the finding that training in listening comprehension forms a support structure upon which all of communicative competence in a second language can be built (Kadota, 1987). One of the benefits of class singing is that for students to Ieam to sing a song, they must employ and exercise their listening skills. Characteristics of Listening Activities & Even so, listening is not learned accidentally nor is it a byproduct of practicing some other skill (Alley, 1988). It must be learned through carefully planned activities and materials. What follows are six important characteristics for listening activities/materials in general as mentioned by Alley. The discussion after each characteristic will serve to illustrate how music may be utilized in building listening skills in a second language. 7) The Ieamer’s attention must be focused on the message, not on grammatical form. Dunkel (1986) suggests that listening exercises are more effective if students have a task to complete to demonstrate their understanding as a response to listening, which may also help them stay focused during the activity. An example of this type of activity involving music could be to have students put in order a random set of pictures according to the themes, ideas, nouns, or actions heard in the song. In spite of Alley’s guideline regarding the emphasis on meaning over form, it would also be possible for students to listen 43 for grammatical structures that they understand rather than to eliminate a focus on form altogether. i) The listening text should contain material that is generally comprehensible to the students, with some of it a little beyond their understanding. In this regard, Ur (1984) points out that listening exercises are aimed at 339109;"9t testing; Therefore, the best practice in listening uses material that enables the learner to experience relative success. Activities that are too difficult offer very little practice and instead frustrate and reduce motivation in students. However, it should be noted here that what is expected of students in a given activity serves to regulate the relative difficulty of the activity. For example, if students are listening to a popular song in Spanish, they can be asked to simply write down any words they hear that are recognizable and then the class can share together what they understood to get a feel for the meaning of the song. Though understanding the whole song would be impossible, the limiting of the expectations when utilizing difficult L2 input guides the students for successful completion of the task and, consequently, worthwhile practice with the language. I , 3) The listening text should be memorable, thereby facilitating retention and recall. Some experiments show that second language use places more strain on memory than native language use (Lado, 1965). However, music may lessen that strain by functioning as a memory aid. While the enjoyable nature of music can serve to support memory, several other aids to memory include the organizational, temporal, and rhythmic qualities of music (Wilcox, 1995). Organized or patterned material, such as prosody (melody), “chunking” (grouping of words or phrases), and rhyming words, is easier to store in long-term memory 44 and to retrieve later on (Bell, 1981; Thompson, 1987). The rhythmic patterns may also encourage certain behaviors, such as clapping, tapping feet, and dancing, which may aid the memory (Wilcox, 1995). Furthermore, word associations through rhyme can be just as effective in aiding memory as associations through meaning (Ur, 1996). Several studies have found evidence to support music’s aid to memory. In one study students were able to memorize songs more quickly than dialogues because of the rhythm, rhyme, and melody (Van Asselt, 1970, in Alley, 1988). The study also found that students were able to transfer the use of the vocabulary from the songs to other contexts. Another study suggests a strong connection between listening comprehension and tonal memory (Call, 1985). There has been evidence in my own teaching experience as well. A former student of mine, who had a significant struggle with Ieaming the language, told me the following year that, though she did not remember much grammar, she could still sing the songs we had sung as a class. In regard to using music in L2 instruction, Ovando, Collier, and Combs (2003) admonish that it would be “foolish to ignore the power of this sensory experience for storing knowledge permanently in memory" (p. 111). 9 In order to attract and hold the students’ attention, listening activities must encourage interest and enjoyment. Music is a vital part of every culture and as such has universal appeal. The rhythm, beat, and melody can serve to capture the students’ interest. Music is also a realm about which all students know something and, therefore, it can serve as a bridge in Ieaming. Instructors can 45 ‘0 ‘r b‘ d “we, direct the students’ focus to a culturally distinct beat or unique musical instruments, while using a variety of musical styles. 9 Listening comprehension activities should serve to lower the affective filter. Music has been used for centuries to lower anxiety. Examples range from the Biblical account of David playing the harp for King Saul (l Samuel 16: 14-23) to the many accounts of music therapy used today (Lane, 1994). For some, lowering the affective filter is one of the most important foundations for building communicative competence. Terrell states, “I am even more convinced that the lowering of affective barriers must be the overriding concern in classroom activities if acquisition is to be achieved” (1982). The area of affect has already been discussed in more detail in an earlier section. V?) Instructors need to provide extended periods of listening practice. Music making is built entirely around the principle of repetition (of lyrics, themes, stanzas, rhythms, and chorus) which allows for extended language practice and conditions learners for remembering the sequences as whole units (Alley, 1988; Richman, 2000). Another aspect of repetition is the repeating of a song for enjoyment. Hirsch (1996) notes the importance of this repetition for memory: ‘Once is not enough’ should be the motto of long-term memory, though nonmeaningful review and boring repetition are not good techniques....Memory studies suggest that the best approach to achieving retention in long-term memory is ‘distributed practice.’ ldeally...repetitions [should occur] at moderately distant intervals. (p. 164-5) Class singing allows for meaningful repetition at moderate intervals since Ieaming a song takes repeated effort and students generally enjoy singing the 46 (I? r4 4 :2! 1’1 songs they already know. When I enter the classroom with a guitar and song sheets, I find that, out of a possible thirty-six songs to sing, students often indicate a desire to repeat songs we have sung in prior class sessions. Thus, music provides a means for the repetition of language which facilitates the retention of the phrases and structures in the long-term memory. Other Features of Music In addition to Alley’s six suggestions, several other features of music should be noted. Listening to music or singing songs can provide the needed exposure that gives a student a sense otwbaLsaungstjshtethespfipabngjhem- f_<_)_r_§_p_e.aki_ng. Listening practice enables students to perceive and absorb the sounds of the language and to discriminate between various sound patterns (Dominguez, 1991). This helps in both the comprehension of others’ speech as well as in the imitation of the new sounds. Furthermore, Burling comments that students can only gain a sense of what sounds right by having clean input, or right-sounding language (1982). They may not receive that important input from the imperfect output of their peers in the classroom. In addition to absorbing what sounds right through the inherent repetition of musical forms of language, students may be aided by the musical tones to understand or retain phonemic or lexical information. One study found evidence that Asian students were able to discriminate more quickly between English phonemes through the aid of music and rhythm (Karimer, 1983 in Dominguez, 1991). In another study, Hardison (2004) found that prosodic cues facilitated the recall of the lexical content of sentences to which the Ieamers had been exposed frequently during training....Those 47 ,‘ run iv‘u I. «A 5"! «(H‘- \I‘ .‘Vh . H- “i {if ‘J’rr exemplars whose prosodic and/or lexical content attracted the most learner attention in the study were the easiest to recall. (p. 48) Finally, Lynch (1998) suggests that the characteristic patterning found in speech contains a “metrical template” that enables Ieamers to identify words and word boundaries (which are often difficult to recognize in spoken language) and thus to comprehend what they hear. Music may help build the metrical patterns of a second language in the minds of students. Building Speaking Skills Speaking in public is a scary proposition for many students, even in the native language. Hearts race, faces flush, and palms sweat at the very thought—all in all, it is an anxiety-producing situation. Even more frightening is speaking in a second language in public, and “public” is what we need to consider the classroom setting or a conversation with a stranger from a different language background. Besides, the student studying foreign language in our monolingual society likely has no role models in close family or friends who communicate within the broader society in an L2. Minimizing this negative effect on the use of the target language means not only finding ways to decrease the anxiety, but also to boost students in their proficiency so that their confidence can encourage and enable them to speak. Music may help to accomplish both. One important aspect of L2 speech is Ieaming the distinctive sound features of the language. Singing allows for specific focus on sound features since it always requires an open syllable or vowel sound. Tumanov (1986) 48 points out that in music, the articulation of sounds is slower than in speech,10 minimizing reduction in vowel sounds as well as facilitating the articulation of other sounds. This makes it easier to notice and Ieam through music the differences between the L1 and L2 sound systems. Tumanov claims that “even a relatively fast tempo allows more time for the articulation of a verbal passage in vocal music than in oral speech” (p. 50). Singing is considered excellent pronunciation practice since language sounds are often exaggerated in a song for artistic purposes (Brown, 1975). For Spanish pronunciation, especially, singing serves a valuable function since English speakers have a difficult time imitating the seemingly rapid-fire tempo of the Spanish language. In Spanish, word boundaries are less distinct as sounds in the phonemic phrases run together and are pronounced as if they were a single word (Dalbor, 1969). Since this phenomenon, called sinalefa, is common in singing, singing is an excellent way for students to be introduced to and to practice joining words and phrases together. ln addition to articulation of the sounds of the language, singing can help students with intonational patterns (Staum, 1987), practicing sounds in combination with other sounds (Dominguez, 1991), and rhythms (Brown, 1975). Several studies are of special interest here. Staum (1987) used music as an intonational cue for bilingual language acquisition. Sentences were both sung and spoken to work on prosodic problems. The author concludes that “music paired with speech significantly increased accuracy in verbal inflection” (p. 285). '0 This may, of course, depend on the particular style of music used, since the rate of speech/song in some contemporary forms of music may be faster than normal speech. 49 Van Asselt found that students who scored lower on mental aptitude tests were able to memorize songs with pronunciation that was comparable to that of students with higher test scores (1970 in Alley, 1988). Beardsley (1957) noted that during a recreation time he overheard his students in France singing an American folk song to which he had introduced them “with practically no traces of French accent” (p. 48). Though this does not guarantee an equivalent level of speaking, singing provides the opportunities to hear and practice correct intonation and articulation, thereby facilitating the transfer of native-like pronunciation from music to speech. (This ties in to the Vygotsky notion of performing on a higher level than normal.) On a qualitative note, (as mentioned earlier) Wilcox (1995) observed that an 84-year-old Ukrainian male spoke at a faster pace when using the words of a song phrase that he had learned than when speaking other learned English utterances, demonstrating the influence of music on the development of fluency in speaking skills. One final reason that music may be effective in promoting language Ieaming is the phenomenon called residual Ieaming (Wilcox, 1995). This has been referred to by others as the “din in the head” (Krashen, 1983), subvocal rehearsal (Lyczak, 1979 in Murphey, 1990) or the “song-stuck-in-my-head” (SSIMH) phenomenon (Murphey, 1990) and may parallel the visual or kinesthetic rehearsal that an artist or an athlete experiences. These terms refer to the subconscious repeating of phrases, words, or song lines over in the mind after some encounter or involvement with them. Barber offers her own account of an experience with residual Ieaming in a Russian setting: 50 The sounds [of the Russian language] in my head became so intense after five days that I found myself mindlessly chewing on them, like so much linguistic cud, to the rhythm of my own footsteps as I walked the streets and museums....The constant rehearsal of these phrases of course was making it easier and easier to speak things quickly; things popped out as prefabricated chunks. But I had no control over what my subconscious fed into my “chewer” each day. It fed me what it considered memorable—usually from a surprising or stressful or isolated incident— not what I considered maximally useful. Nonetheless, my overall command of Russian improved more in a single week than it would have in a month or two of intensive reading. (1980, p. 30) In an experiment on subvocal rehearsal with Chinese-English bilinguals in Hong Kong, Lyczak gave the participants each a tape to listen to for a week. One group listened to Japanese language, another to Thai language, and the third to classical music. Following that week, he taught all of the groups Thai language. After the study, though he found no difference in comprehension of Thai among the three groups, there were significant differences in production, with the Thai listening group scoring highest. He concluded that rehearsal is a primary mechanism for getting information into long-term memory and making it available for later recall....The effects of rehearsal, therefore, are much more likely to be exhibited on a recall task, such as language production, than on a recognition task such as translation....Subvocal rehearsal, therefore,...may be a more potent factor in second language Ieaming than language teachers had heretofore 51 imagined....(lt may very well be that this is the way that) exposure to language does affect subsequent Ieaming. (1979, in Murphey, 1990, p. 57) ln another study the researcher delayed the oral practice of vocabulary with students and instead had them rehearse the words subvocally while writing them. Ironically, after four weeks of subvocal rehearsal, students performed better on a test of language production than the students who had rehearsed vocally (Postovsky, 1974). Murphey suggests that the axiom “we are what we think” may be more accurate than we have imagined. He states, Apparently, we tend to use mainly elements that our environment (books, people, television, etc.) provides for the content of our thoughts. Thus, to a certain extent, one could say we are recordings of everything we come into contact with and everything we experience, as we tend to mirror, echo, or rehearse these things throughout our lives....Finally, it would seem that some things, like songs, have more staying power than others. (p. 61, emphasis added) Therefore, when students either subvocally or vocally rehearse a song or parts of a song, they are rehearsing language chunks (Ellis, 1996) that will likely aid them in later production of the language, thereby providing them with tools to build confidence and reduce L2 anxiety. Many kinds of language repetition or rehearsal could be tedious, but in my experience students are always ready to re-sing a song. The broad value of such repetition through music is pointed out by Billows: 52 We enjoy repeating [a song] or singing it, and it keeps coming into our minds spontaneously...The frequent repetition of the sentences with the swing and rhythm demanded by a poem or song practises the mind and the muscles to work smoothly and skilfully together in the patterns and sonorities of the language; this smooth instinctive skill is what we usually mean by fluency. There is no other way in which we can *get the normal, unexceptionally motivated or compelled, student to repeat so many sentences involving the normal mouth movements and rhythm of the language, without weariness or rebellion. (1961, p. 237). Thus, with its focus on vowel sounds, an emphasis on a relaxed open mouth, the running together of words/phrases, and the tendency for subvocal rehearsal to occur, singing may be instrumental in building the necessary skills in pronunciation, intonation, and rhythm of the language to work toward fluency and to promote student success and confidence with speaking the language. According to Cook (2000) there are two fascinating and interrelated features of language play, namely, “the wide distribution and constant repetition of the same texts” and “the unusual attention and affection which some of these inspire” (p. 12). These same features are characteristic of music. Music shares the rhythm, rhyme and repetition that often occur in language play. As such, the benefits of patterned language are available to L2 Ieamers when music is enjoyed together through listening or singing in the classroom. Cook challenges language practitioners to find materials for language teaching that take into account personal importance, psychological saliency, and interest; and that 53 involve both active production of playful language and its passive reception. He calls for a testing out of his assertions in practice and suggests a major research program centering on how to select materials for language play, how to adapt and use them in the L2 classroom, and on student reactions to them (p. 194). He urges researchers to consider [the] need for much more investigation into what students like and want. In this context it is strange that many current approaches to language Ieaming assume, without either reflection or evidence, that it is the mundane transactional discourse of modern work, rather than the ancient playful discourse concerning intimacy and power, which should stimulate interest in language Ieaming. There is confusion between what is relevant and what is motivating. (p. 160) The need for additional research is clear. 54 CHAPTER 3 THE INVESTIGATION DESIGN Previous Research 2" {I} :9? t I I») 4.1" There are at least two veins of research studies that are pertinent to this investigation. The first focuses on music and second language Ieaming, including the idiopact of music on listening comprehension (Alley. 1988), vocabgLawquisition (Hahn, 1972; Medina, 1990), readjpgskills (Dominguez, 1991 ), pronunciation (Wilcox, 1995), and verb” form, acquisition (Ayotte, 2004) in an L2 setting. The secongIvein involves studies on mgtivatiorr and classroom activity preferences (Schmidt & Watanabe, 2001; Jacques, 2001). Music and L2 Learning ,7 M it? “ "wt. 'QA'JEXJJ 988) compared two different methods of teaching listening comprehension, one using songs and the other using narratives and dialogues. Two groups of first-year high school students participated in the five-week study. Both groups were tested weekly and took a comprehensive exam at the end of the five weeks. Students also completed a questionnaire that assessed the students’ subjective reactions to methods used in the study. Results indicated that, although students from the experimental group performed better on the weekly unit tests, there was no significant difference between groups on the comprehensive test. However, differences were noted between groups in performance and in reaction to materials, with the control group being more positive. (Alley suggests that could be due to his amateur musical abilities, 55 discipline problems in the experimental group, and the fact that not all of the exercises were easily adaptable to the musical format.) ) g _ Two studies focused on the effects of music inputin!vIcIteiethJlztrIy'I Ieaming or retention. The first, conducted by Hahn (1972), was an investigation as to whether adding melody and rhythm to a body of text would serve as a Ieaming aid or a hindrance to Ieaming Lexidallinits in German. Thirty-eight seventh graders participated in the study. After the introduction of the media (four songs and four dialogues) and subsequent testing, results showed that the music mode resulted in a higher mean retention on Ieaming German vocabulary (and particularly so for boys). He notes that though students complained about not having enough time to Ieam the songs better, they did not do so for the dialogues. Some students requested copies of the lyrics and wanted to take the songs home on tape for additional practice which could not be allowed during the study. This lends support for a positive relationship between motivation for Ieaming and use of music in L2 Ieaming. The second study on vocabulary retention was conducted by Medina (1990) who researched the effectiveness of music and story illustrations on vocabulary acquisition in English. The 48 second-graders with limited English proficiency who participated in the study were divided into four groups. One group heard a story in a song version and another heard the oral version with no melody. The third group heard the story in song and at the same time viewed pictures that illustrated the story, while the fourth group heard the oral version and viewed the pictures. Though there was no statistical significance between groups, vocabulary gain scores were consistently higher for the groups that 56 participated in either the music or the illustrations and the highest gain was found in the group in which both the song version of the story and the illustrations were used. On a qualitative note, when asked their preference between the sung stories or spoken stories, all 23 students in a pilot study preferred the sung stories indicating that songs may provide a better means of capturing the attention of children. Qominguez (1991) studied the effects of a music-based program on readmgflachievement of Spanish-speaking migrant children. In the study, 51 preschoolers were randomly assigned to one of two groups. One group received instruction using a drill-type method; the other received instruction through musical activities. The purpose of both instructional methods was to help the students acquire the language of basal readers. The t-test results from the reading mastery test at the end of the study were inconclusive, though in each subtest except one, the music group had a higher mean score. The raw data showed that, while 48% of the drill group scored 100% on the post test, 58% of the music group did so. A study by W995) investigated the effects of classroom singing and music cues on memory fojMLJDQfiQQlD second language acquisition. Four levels of English classes for adult speakers of other languages (ESOL) at a local community college were divided into two presentation groups for a treatment-control research design. The classroom singing presentation used the song pattern and song vocabulary from Dolly Parton’s “Nine-to-Five” for the treatment. The control presentation used the same target vocabulary in a working thematic unit with direct pronunciation and drill practice. The findings 57 indicated that there was no significant difference in vocabulary learned or in pronunciation clarity between the two groups. However, the author notes that qualitative information from taped interviews suggests evidence for an effect of the music treatment on pronunciation fluency, recall, comprehension, grammatical competence, prosody, influence on the affective domain, ritual greetings, pronunciation errors, and the existence of the Din effect on memory. Ayotte (2004) studied the effects of song (lyrics and music) on grammar acquisition for college students studying French. The students were divided into two groups: one group received input though song and the other received the same lexical input through poem. In the pilot study, the song group scored significantly better than the poem group on two of the verb forms on the delayed posttest, however, the follow-up study failed to indicate any significant difference between the two groups. In her discussion of these results, Ayotte concludes that the use of songs as input for L2 Ieamers did not help the retention of verb forms. Although the results from a motivation survey in the follow—up study suggest that students from each group appreciated the song or poem input they had received and the desire for more songs/poems was high, the researcher believes that “one cannot implement materials that students like simply because of their student appeal if the material does not benefit Ieaming (p. 85). There are several limitations that should be noted in the above-mentioned studies. The time frame for all the studies (except Ayotte) ranged from 4 days to 6 weeks. Dominguez (1991), Alley (1988), and Hahn (1972) all mention the limited time as a factor that affected the findings of their studies. As in many research projects, several of the authors mention that a larger sample would 58 have been better. Alley mentions the fact that he was in the classroom as a researcher, not as a regular classroom teacher, and that may have negatively affected his results. He suggests that it would be better for the regular classroom teacher to handle the instruction to eliminate favoritism on the part of the researcher, to better integrate music (listening) into the regular class schedule, and to help answer how practical the methods are for actual classroom use on a regular basis. As mentioned earlier, he also noted the fact that there were discipline problems in the experimental group that may have influenced the results. In addition, there were several limitations in the two Ayotte (2004) studies that are important to note. In the pilot study the researcher had one group listen to a poem version of the song lyrics three times while the other group only listened to the song version once (due to time constraints). This presents a problem of confounding variables since there was not only a difference in the treatment mode, but also in frequency. The activities accompanying each treatment also varied in that the poem group was first instructed to focus on verb forms while listening, then they filled out verb forms on a sheet with the verb forms missing, followed by a discussion of the correct forms and then the third listening. The song group used the lyric sheet during the only listening and then discussed the correct responses and received the correct forms from an overhead transparency. Amazingly, the results indicated that the song group outperformed the poem group on the posttest. The frequency issue was controlled in the follow-up study in that both groups listened three times. 59 There were two other issues in the Ayotte (2004) study that were not addressed in the second data collection. The first is the pace of each treatment. The researcher noted in the pilot study that the students in the poem group were frustrated that the rate of speech in the recorded poems did not allow enough time to write the verbs in the blanks. There was less frustration evident in the song group. Although the researcher acknowledges the difference in time (poems lasted 1-2 minutes; songs lasted 3-5 minutes), there is no mention in the second study concerning any correction for this factor. While the difference in time may have been due to musical interludes in the song treatment, that would not explain why the students in the poem group showed frustration (in both studies) with the rate of speech. It could also be the case that the song treatment allowed the students more ‘think’ time and, therefore, was less frustrating. Certainly, since the pace of the lexical information would impact the students’ retention of the material, there should have been a control for the pace of speech in both treatments, ensuring that the rate for each group was the same. The other issue in the Ayotte (2004) investigation has to do with the timing of the pretest. Although the procedure in each study was similar (pretest, instruction, treatment, immediate posttest, delayed posttest), there was a difference in the time for instruction. In the pilot study, the treatment took place after four weeks of instruction; in the second study, the treatment followed 13 weeks of instruction. Since the songs were intentionally selected according to the grammar that would be covered during the semester, it seems likely that a longer instruction period would allow for acquisition of verb forms from 60 presentation and practice of the forms, as well as from the treatment. Furthermore, in order to show more clearly what effect, if any, the treatment had, it may have been better to give the pretest right before the treatment rather than prior to the instructional period. How could one determine whether the results of the study indicate the (lack of) effectiveness of the treatment or of the instruction that the students received? These quantitative studies have tried, through control and treatment design, to show a positive correlation between the use of musical modes of instruction and various aspects of second language Ieaming. Due to time and sample limitations as well as other unforeseen difficulties, they have failed to produce much strong support for this notion. This is surprising considering the obvious connection between language and music as modes of oral communication with similar features of tone, rhythm, pulse, and prosody; and considering the strong support there is for the positive effects of music within the language teaching profession. Keeping in mind the limitations noted above, other modes of research should be explored. L2 Motivation and Classroom Activities In the area of motivation and class activity preferences, Schmidt and Watanabe (2001) studied the responses to a questionnaire completed by Ieamers in an English-as-a-Foreign-Language (EFL)11 setting. One of their major findings was that, for the EFL students in the study, motivation was " The terminology “English as a Foreign Language” is used here to be consistent with the report of the study. However, in the data from the initial student survey and the motivation questionnaire the term used is English as a Second Language (ESL) since that is more congruent with the US. context of language education. 61 not separated into categories (as has been previously suggested by Domyei, 1990) but rather centered on value; that is Ieamers did not separate as to whether they were studying EFL for instrumental reasons, or for integrative reasons, or for interest in language and culture. The students either recognized value in Ieaming a second language for all of those reasons, or they did not at all. In addition, though the researchers found that most students appreciated both the more traditional classroom activities and the more contemporary approaches, they noted that the level of challenge presented by the activities was the aspect that most influenced a student’s level of motivation. One part of a study by Jacques (2001) investigated the relationship between students’ preferences for activities and motivation through the use of a questionnaire similar to that used by Schmidt and Watanabe (2001). The results of the study indicated that university students who study a language solely as a graduation requirement did not value language Ieaming in and of itself. Also, similar to Schmidt and Watanabe, Jacques found that students who place a high value on language Ieaming considered challenge as a positive element in the classroom; students who felt anxious about the class did not. Need for Further Research Throughout this paper, there have been numerous references to the need for more research, specifically in the areas of the impact of language play and pedagogical context on student motivation in L2 Ieaming. Several researchers have recognized the need for an increase in qualitative studies in this area (Jacques, 2001; McGroarty, 2001). Others have urged that this research be 62 done in actual classrooms (Jacques, 2001; McGroarty, 2001; Nunan, 1992 in Broner and Tarone, 2001). More specifically, Cook (2000) sees a need for further study regarding what students actually like and want in the L2 classroom in addition to a deeper understanding of the two interrelated factors of language play: “the wide distribution and constant repetition of the same texts” and “the unusual attention and affection which some of these inspire” (p. 12). Several researchers recommend studies to identify specific connections between student motivation and the various aspects of L2 pedagogy (McGroarty, 2001; Schmidt and Watanabe, 2001). As McGroarty states, The relative motivational power of the classroom and the motivational value of the tasks and activities students are asked to complete are paramount....As yet, few L2 researchers have taken this fundamental issue seriously, although it is a major concern of practicing educators. (p. 82) To this challenge the current study aspires. This research study is centered on the use of music in L2 leamingagdflon swmliglieo. [(993.991hg qqafltgtixaénsl anslanmanxg meow This type of study allowed me to gather and analyze information on the perspectives of the students as to the affective and cognitive benefits of music in L2 Ieaming. Considering Alley’s (1988) suggestions, the research was conducted in my own classes at a local college. In this way, I was able to integrate music into the L2 class on a regular basis and connect it with the thematic content or grammatical structures we were studying. l was also able to assess the practicality of the 63 various methods of implementing musical modes of instruction into the classroom setting. Current Study Research Questions Taking into consideration the current context of L2 Ieaming in the US. and the importance of affective factors in motivation, the basic research questions for this study were: What is the social context of L2 learning for this population? What motivations for L2 study (both internal and external) do these college students perceive for themselves? What are the students’ perceptions of the effect of the use of music activities on their motivations, their engagement with class activities, their interest in the language, and their attitude toward second language Ieaming? The more specific questions for this study, regarding student motivations for L2 study, the use of various activities in the L2 classroom, and more specifically the use of music, included (but were not limited to) the following: 1. What is the L2 background of this population? 2. Which aspects of their L2 Ieaming experience are most salient to them? 3. What motivations does the student perceive in regard to current L2 study? 4. Which music activities do students perceive as being the most (or least) helpful for language study? Why? In what ways? For what language skills? 5. What differences are there between student perceptions regarding songs of faith as opposed to songs of culture? Regarding familiar tunes vs. new tunes? 64 6. Do students find the music used in the classroom stays with them in some way after leaving the class? In what ways? When? After which activities? 7. What do students perceive to be the effects of the use of music activities for L2 Ieaming on their own attitudes toward foreign language Ieaming, their engagement in class activities, their engagement with the Spanish language, and their personal motivations for foreign language Ieaming? Research Design What The focus of this study was fourfold: (1) to identify the background L2 experience of the students in the core language program, (2) to identify the perceptions of core students regarding their motivations for L2 Ieaming, (3) to identify perceptions of core students regarding the efficacy of music activities, and (4) to identify perceptions of core students regarding the motivational power of music activities. The methods for data collection included four procedures. First, the students filled out an initial student survey at the beginning of the semester regarding L2 background. Second, students filled out several evaluation forms during a three-week time span concerning all activities used that day. (The study’s specific focus regarding music activities was not explicitly stated to the students in the introduction of the study in order to avoid influencing their evaluations of certain class activities.) Third, later in the semester students filled out a scalar-rating survey regarding motivations and class activities. Fourth, four students participated in interviews after the end of the semester. 65 llho knenr twist Enter about mvnec wilhol conse Sgnat conse record anOny had er Who The participants. The participants of the study included students from two intermediate-level college Spanish classes during one semester. The majority of the students enrolled in these classes take the course as a core requirement, rather than as part of a major or minor concentration. Students were informed about the various aspects of the research project by means of a letter and were invited to participate (see Appendices A, B, C, and D) and were able to choose without penalty whether to do so or not. A research assistant (RA) collected a consent form upon which each student wrote his/her name, the date, his/her signature, his/her (self-generated) three-digit lD code, and whether or not he/she consented to participate in each aspect of the study. This information was recorded, sealed, and kept with the department secretary for the sake of student anonymity, and I had no knowledge of who had consented until the semester had ended and the grades had been submitted to the registrar. There were 27 students in one class and 28 in the other; of these, fifty consented to participate in all or part of the study. At the end of the semester, students were again asked whether or not they consented to individual interviews and to having their daily evaluations used in the research study. From those consenting, the RA chose four at random for individual interviews. Gaining permission. This study was conducted at a small college where I teach two intermediate level L2 classes that serve to fulfill part of the core language requirement at the college. I had to obtain permission from the college and the department to conduct this research. There were already well- established ties with this college. 66 I sought permission first from the Spanish department chair through the use of a cover letter explaining the purpose of the study (see Appendix E). After receiving permission, I sent a follow-up letter asking to be allowed to utilize a student worker as a research assistant during the academic year (see Appendix F). The RA’s work during the fall semester consisted of meeting with me for an introduction to the project, collecting, sealing, and compiling the consent forms, and choosing the four students for the interviews. Another RA typed the students’ evaluations and the transcriptions of the four interviews. Where The collection of the first three data sets took place in one classroom at the college during the two intermediate Spanish classes in which I was the assigned instructor. The classroom equipment included a CD player with speakers mounted on the front wall. Interviews took place in my office after the completion of the semester and were recorded using a cassette recorder. The college. The research was conducted at a private four-year liberal arts college located in mid-westem US. The college has a long history of strong religious affiliation with a particular Christian denomination. Within this context professors are encouraged and challenged to apply Biblical principles to each disdipline and one’s faith journey becomes an integral part of life and Ieaming. There is a regular time for collective expression of faith each day throughout the semester (chapel). These occasions typically include some integration of music, either by an individual or group, as a performance or a participation experience. Though chapel is not required, it is well-attended. In addition, the majority of students attending the college have some church affiliation in their home or life 67 background. In this context they would also be used to singing as a communal faith expression. At this college, there is commitment to living out Biblical values in every area of life. One of those values is hospitality (Smith & Carvill, 2000). In The Gift of the Stranger Smith and Carvill suggest that hospitality means being a blessing as a guest in a different culture and welcoming the stranger in our own homeland. As we see the stranger in our midst as a blessing, it can help us see our own culture in a different light. However, students with little or no motivation for L2 Ieaming may have a difficult time opening themselves up to even encountering the stranger, let alone embracing the stranger. This presents a challenge for L2 instructors in this setting. The course. Each semester there are from four to nine sections of each intermediate language course at themgpfillegehThe intermediate courses are \ w—r sequenced, that is, students who take one course need to follow it with additional courses that serve as a continuation. Because of this, instructors use a common textbook and follow a common syllabus. Though the daily instruction and the regular assessments are often grammar-based, there is also emphasis on developing interpretive (reading and listening), interpersonal (conversation), and presentational (speaking and writing) skills. A typical day in the class would include some review or further explanation of grammar material studied, some focused practice of the grammar in question, small group or pair work to develop conversation skills, listening to the L2 through class instruction and activities, and some form of reading, though extensive reading only on occasions when a reading was assigned. 68 Incorporation of music. As I have taught in this course sequence for core students for several years, I have regularly incorporated music into my classes. In the past this has come primarily in the way of singing with the students. A number of the songs with which students are familiar through church or chapel are available in Spanish and I would often begin class with singing. The song sheets we use contain these songs along with others that are also faith-based, but original songs from Spanish-speaking countries. On other occasions I would use song sheets with various Latin American folk songs. Sometimes I would choose the songs, but after students were more familiar with them, I would let the students choose. When I conducted the study in two Spanish classes which met for fifty minutes, four days per week during the fall semester of 2002. One class met at 8:00 am. and the other met at 9:00 am. Students filled out the initial student survey early in the semester (the third week of classes) for the first set of data. For the second data set, students filled out evaluations about class activities on six different occasions during a three-week time span. I decided to limit the evaluations to six for two reasons. First, I hoped that students would not tire from the evaluation process and would, perhaps, provide more quality comments than if I required this type of evaluation every day. Second, I had to work around the class schedule of material to cover and did the evaluations as time allowed. I started the evaluations in the eighth week of classes in order to let the students first get acclimated to the classroom expectations and flow and 69 completed them in the tenth week so as not to cause undue frustration for students too close to the end of the semester. For the class evaluations, all students received an evaluation sheet at the beginning of each class and took a few minutes before the end of the class period to complete the evaluation. The questions included on the evaluation sheet were: 1) Which activities today were most helpful to your language study and why? 2) Which activities were least helpful to your language study and why? 3) Which activities today made you most feel like participating and why? 4) Which activities today made you least feel like participating and why? Before class began I would write a list of the day’s activities on the board for the students’ reference during the few minutes of evaluation at the end of class. During one class period prior to the Thanksgiving break,12 the students filled out a survey focusing on student motivations and class activities. The survey, based on a 5-point Likert scale, was distributed and collected during the same class period. The student interviews and the analysis of the evaluations took place after the semester had ended and all grades had been submitted to the registrar. How As mentioned earlier, there were four data collection tools: initial student survey, daily evaluations of class activities, motivation questionnaire, and interviews. Each is discussed here in detail under a separate heading. '2 Jacques (2001) suggests keeping data collection away from the end of the semester since students tend to be more uptight during that time. Though he chose to administer a similar survey instrument before mid-semester, I am waiting a bit longer to give students more experience with the class activities and, thus, more basis for reflective responses. 70 Data Collection Initial Student Survey The first form of data collection was an initial student survey that all students filled out near the beginning of the semester (see Appendix G). For the sake of anonymity, students did not put their names on these sheets, but instead used their own self-generated three-digit code that they had chosen on their consent forms. This survey was designed to collect information regarding each student’s background experience with foreign language and/or culture to determine whether the social context for L2 Ieaming for these students matched in any way the general description presented in the literature review. The topics covered by the 11 items on the survey included exposure to other languages and cultures through family or personal experience, purposes and motivations (or lack thereof) for L2 study, and affective responses to prior experiences with Ieaming Spanish. All students present were asked to complete the survey. Of the 52 surveys turned in, 48 students had given consent for their data to be used. The data for those not consenting was eliminated from the analysis. One of the areas surveyed was that of L2 exposure within one’s immediate or extended family. In order to recognize that all students may not be from families who have English as their native language, this question area was broadened to include English as a second language. Though there are debates currently in the field as to the best terminology for students studying English— considering options such as English Language Learner (ELL) or Limited English Proficient (LEP)-—for the purposes of this study I decided to use English as a 71 Second Language (ESL) since that may be the most familiar of the terms for the students and since the other designations are more typically used in the K-12 context (and this question would most likely be referring to an older person in the family rather than a younger sibling). A numbering error was made in the survey design resulting in two items being assigned the number five, but this did not affect the filling out of the survey nor the analysis of the data. For the sake of clarity during analysis, the first item involved in the numbering error and its sub-items were numbered as 5A-SC and the following item and sub-items were numbered as 50-5F. The data were typed into a spreadsheet format according to student number. Problems with the Initial Student Survey There were several problems that were encountered while analyzing the data from the initial survey. The first involved the self-generated student codes. Students were asked to generate a three-digit code (numbers and/or letters) that would be used for research purposes during the semester to guard the anonymity of the students until the end of the semester. They were told they could use numbers or letters for their code. I allowed them to generate their own codes since, as researcher, I could not know which student belonged to which code until the completion of the semester and I thought they would be able to remember a self-generated code (that may have meaning to them) better than an assigned one. However, there were several students who chose the same code on their consent forms which led to complications in analyzing the initial student survey. This problem was compounded by the fact that the research assistant, who was 72 to look at the codes on the consent forms to make sure there were no duplicates, was unable to start the work until after the initial survey had already been collected. Since there were six who had chosen the code “123” on their consent forms (as well as a few others with duplicate codes), the RA had to decipher to whom each of those codes belonged. To begin, the RA went back to the consent forms where they had written their original codes. These she checked according to the student code list that she had prepared after collecting the consent forms and noted any discrepancies. Then she went back to the initial student survey sheets that the students had filled out to find the duplicate codes and was able to match the handwriting from the consent form to that on the initial student survey. These students then chose a new three-digit code. The RA noted the new codes on the student code list along with the old codes for reference. I did not have access to the name and number list until the end of the semester. I now realize that several changes should have been made in the student code procedure. First, if the researcher wants to organize the data-collection spreadsheet for easier reference, it is helpful to have either all numbers or all letters, but not a mixture of the two. Also, a research assistant (rather than the instructor) could be in charge of assigning the codes before the beginning of the semester to eliminate the problems encountered in this study. The research assistant could print up labels with the students’ name and code for the student to stick inside the class notebook or workbook or provide a square on the final page of the syllabus for the students to record the code so that they have it available for easy reference when needed (since some students forgot theirs). I 73 would go one step farther by having part of the numerical designation assigned to the student signify which of the two classes the student attended. This would eliminate the need to record those data separately when comparing responses from one class to responses from the other. A second problem that surfaced concerned the actual printed survey. The survey was two-sided, with questions 8, 9, and 10 on the back side. There were five students who wrote nothing on the back of the sheet and it is unclear as to whether they had nothing to say or they did not realize there were more questions to answer. After handing the survey out in class, I realized that I should have told the students that the document was two-sided, but because I had to leave the room while the students filled out the form, I was unable to go back to remind them of the second page. A note on the bottom of the first page instructing students to turn the page over to complete the survey would solve this problem. Finally, there was confusion on the part of the students regarding the definition of extended vs. immediate family that I had not anticipated. There were three questions that asked specifically about immediate or extended family members. It was clear from the students’ responses that there was no consensus on the definition of those two terms. Consequently, I needed to define the terms for the study and then read through the responses to assign them to the appropriate category. For the purposes of this study I defined immediate family as only parents and siblings; grandparents and in-laws which were commonly listed in student responses under immediate family, were moved to the extended family data, along with aunts/uncles and other relatives. 74 Analysis The first step in analyzing the data, before being able to code it, was to gain a good sense of the range of answers under each survey item. The raw data had been entered into a spreadsheet format using the student three-digit code as row headings and the question number and letter as column headings. Since the survey was open-ended and the types of answers were quite variable, I needed to determine categories or ranges to which the various answers could be assigned. For example, question 3 asked at what age students had their first encounter with someone from a different cultural background. Some students answered with a specific age, but others stated a grade or a stage of schooling. In some cases, a judgment had to be made regarding the intended idea of the response as in “young” or “very young”. For this it helped to look for clues in the other responses that would help determine the intent. For the purposes of analysis, the various responses regarding age were categorized for analysis as 0-5 (“very young”), 6-12 (elementary years or “young”), and 13-18 (middle school and high school) for both Cross Lingual and Cross Cultural experiences. This information was then entered into a second spreadsheet format for analysis and frequencies of response were tallied (for a sample page, see Appendix P). While that procedure worked well for questions 1-7, items 8-10 were broader questions and needed to be coded before being entered into the second spreadsheet. Since it was easy to forget the significance of the coding scheme when away from the work for a few days, I started a code chart to keep track of the codes I was using and what they meant. Though I began with specific codes for information that I expected to find, the coding procedure tended to grow as l 75 found responses that did not fit into the established categories. One example of this was a response to question 8, “Why do you, or do you not, want to Ieam a second language?” One student wrote: “I do desire to Ieam a second language, but not as a core course for my degree.” Though I had separate categories for both positive and negative responses, this response had to be placed (with several others) into a new category for combined positive and negative, labeled Mixed P-N. After this coding was designed and entered into the spreadsheet, frequencies of responses were calculated and then analyzed to determine any patterns and special features. After finishing the analysis for the first data set, I decided to track specific student responses from the initial student survey while looking at the daily evaluations. For this, I needed to list all the student codes for those who responded negatively to L2 Ieaming, or included an anti-immigrant comment, or showed low expectancy for success in the class. The analysis of the comparison between these learners and the data from the daily evaluations will be discussed later. Daily Evaluations The second data collection process was the evaluation sheet that all students filled out during a segment of the semester as part of normal class activity (see Appendix I). These student evaluations were designated by their three-digit code instead of names to insure anonymity during the semester. To help students remember the various activities, I listed the activities for the day on the board before each of the classes during which they would need to fill out a 76 class evaluation. The students took the last five minutes of class to fill out the evaluation sheet. The questions on the evaluation sheet asked students to state what was helpful to them in the class that day, what was not, and why; and in which activities they most/least felt like participating and why. Students had not been informed at this point in the semester as to the exact nature of the study (that is, the music focus) so that they would not simply feed me responses that they thought I would want to hear. Following is a description of the three types of music activities used during the semester: listening to Hispanic music, singing, and composing. Types of Musig Aatju'ties Listening. I had not incorporated the listening to songs prior to this study with any regularity, but believe that this activity can help students in many ways: listening skills (especially Ieaming to separate meaning in a stream of speech), pronunciation skills (through hearing native pronunciation and following along with the words), and reinforcement of verb forms, grammar patterns, sentence structures (through filling in missing words and deciphering meaning). There were several songs that were used for listening throughout the semester, though only two of these were used during the collection of data via the daily evaluations. The songs chosen for listening were included for a number of reasons: comprehensibility, musical interest (including beat, instruments, and rhythm), and thematic fit between vocabulary and/or structures currently under study. Some of the music was faith-based, as earlier noted. The songs and composers are listed below (the first two were part of the data collection in the 77 daily evaluations); the complete CD information is available in the References section: - “Ayer” (J. R. Marquez, 1993, track 3) - “Dia a dia” (R. Blades, 1999, track 13) - “Mi abuelito” (F. Ortega & A. Schriener, 2001, track 5) - “Milagro” (K. Santander, 1995, track 8) - “Vida” (R. Blades, 1999, track 2) - “Vaya con Dios” (J. Velasquez, 2001, track 12) - “T iempos” (R. Blades, 1999, track 14) - “La Anunciacion” (C. Zamorano, E. Espinosa, J. Salinas, 1998, track 7) The typical pattern for the listening activities was to listen to the same song over several days. The first day students would have only the title and the name of the artist on a sheet of paper. As they listened to the song, they were instructed to write down any words that they could understand. This was done to help them grasp bits of meaning out of a stream of language. On the following day students would be given a cloze passage of the words to the song with every seventh word missing. Before listening a second time, they would compare their list of words from the first exposure to the cloze passage and circle any words they had already understood from the first listening. This part of the process was intended to reinforce any words that the students found, to review some of the vocabulary of the song (and if possible to determine the theme by so doing), and to build the students’ confidence in listening and comprehending the L2 in an oral situation. Then they would listen a second time, filling in words as they were 78 able. After this exposure, students would compare with a partner the words they had filled in to allow for some initial feedback. On the following day (when possible) students would listen a third time, after which, a transparency of the cloze passage with the missing words filled in would be shown. As time allowed, I would answer students’ questions and we would discuss various issues regarding theme and forms (specific questions for this were placed on the back of the fill-in sheet the students received). Daily evaluations were filled out on three days that included listening activities. Composing. On a regular basis during the semester, students were given an opportunity to work on composition in class receiving feedback from their peers and from me. On one occasion, I directed that composition time to composing lyrics for a song. For this activity, I divided the students into groups of four and handed them an assignment sheet containing guidelines for the composing activity (see Appendix J). Each group was instructed to choose a familiar tune to which they would then write lyrics in Spanish to fit the tune and the rhythm until the end of the hour. Composing a song allowed students an opportunity to practice verb conjugations, vocabulary, and sentence structures that they had learned previously during the semester by means of a creative expression. A daily evaluation was collected at the end of this class. Singing. On several occasions students would have the opportunity to sing together in class. I would pick a song to start with from a printed song sheet (accompanied by guitar) and then students would have the opportunity to choose a song. The song choices included both songs of culture and songs of faith, as well as some familiar and some new tunes. Normally we would sing two or three 79 songs as a class before moving on to other class activities. Singing can help the practice of pronunciation, decoding meaning, and the reinforcement of verb forms, vocabulary, grammar patterns, and sentence structures. A daily evaluation was collected at the end of one day that included singing. Though it would have been helpful to collect data from more than one day, it was not possible due to course demands and time constraints. Problems with the Daily Evaluations Though there were no specific problems with the actual data collecting for the daily evaluations, there are two changes that I would recommend for a similar study. The first has to do with the focus of the evaluations; the second with frequency. On any given daily evaluation date, some students included music activities in their comments and others did not. For those who did not make reference to a music activity, nothing can be assumed about their like or dislike for the activities. If I had requested more specific information from the students, I could have had responses from all students on each type of music activity. It would also have prompted all students to think about the possible value of the music activities and may have yielded helpful information. For this, the evaluation tool would have to be changed. A possible revision for the survey instrument can be found in Appendix K. I was only able to collect data regarding several listening activities, one singing, and one composing activity due to the course syllabus expectations and resulting time constraints. While gathering this feedback from students on a daily basis was helpful to get a view of their perceptions of the activities in class, 80 collecting these data over a longer period of time would provide much richer and more complete data regarding each specific activity. Analysis At the end of the class on six separate occasions, students answered the brief survey regarding the activities used for instruction or practice on that day— five of those days included some sort of music activity. Out of 55 total students, 48 gave permission to use their responses to the daily evaluations. When the evaluations were given, the students understood that the research study focused on class activities, but not specifically on music. The purpose for this was to minimize my influence on their responses regarding what was most helpful to their Ieaming. Regardless, while the students reacted to many different aspects of the class, of the 48 students who granted permission for their responses to be used in this portion of the study, all 48 made some reference to music over the five days of class evaluations that involved music. There were four categories in the short survey for the daily evaluations (Appendix I). The survey asked which activities were most helpful and least helpful to their Ieaming and also which activities made them feel most or least like participating. The participation aspect had not been included in the pilot study, but was included here because of the realization that there may be a difference in students’ perception of what is helpful from that in which they are motivated to participate. The first step in preparing for the analysis was to find a way to summarize the data that had been collected. The research assistant had entered the data 81 into a spreadsheet with the student codes as the column headers; the dates and question designation were the row headers (see Appendix L for a sample page). I began by reading the data and highlighting every comment that pertained to music activities. (Since I had only informed the students that the study centered on “class activities,” they made comments on all the activities of the class, not just on activities involving music.) Next I found it helpful to organize the comments in a spreadsheet format according to the question on the class evaluation, including the student code with the response so that I could track how many times students repeated a particular response (see Appendix M for a sample page). I then sorted the spreadsheet four different times, once for each column corresponding to the four questions on the evaluation. This was helpful because it grouped all the responses for one student together under each category. I then went back through this data format to color code the responses according to activity in order to keep straight to what the responses referred. From this data set, categories were organized and frequencies were calculated. Tracking from Initial Survey to Daily Evaluations. There were ten students who responded negatively to L2 Ieaming in the initial student survey and nine of those gave permission to use data from the daily evaluations for the research. One of these also showed low expectancy. One of the nine was absent on the day the singing evaluations were collected, making the participant number for that set eight. Another made no comment on music regarding the listening activities, but was present and so was counted when figuring the percents. 82 There were eight students that indicated low expectancy for success in the two classes, one of whom also showed a negative attitude toward L2 Ieaming. All eight were present for each of the evaluations; one of them, however, made no comments regarding music the day of the singing. This student is counted in the number of students for percentages since the no music comment was a choice rather than due to absence. Motivation Questionnaire The third data collection procedure was a survey instrument modeled after one used by Jacques (2001) in a study on motivation and class activities (see Appendices N and O). The survey used a 5-point Likert scale for responses regarding student perceptions of their motivations in L2 Ieaming as well as their appreciation for various class activities including music. Some questions were modified from the original survey; others were added. Problems with the Motivation Questionnaire There were no obvious problems with the filling out of the motivation questionnaire. However, there are two changes that I would make if I were to use a similar instrument again. One aspect that I did not consider prior to completing this step was that of looking at individual student responses in the data. Since students recorded no name or code on the questionnaire form, I had no way to check back for a particular student’s response or that of a particular group of students. I would recommend coding the students’ identity on the questionnaire form to allow for that option. 83 The other concern that l have about the format of the questionnaire pertains to the Neither-Agree-Nor-Disagree category on the survey. Though it may be important to consider the number of students who are uncertain about a particular item, it could also be the case that students may provide an answer in the middle category to avoid the mental challenge of making a decision for or against a statement. It is important to consider how the results for specific questions may have been different if there had been no middle category. If forced to make a choice, into which category would they fall? How would that have impacted the results of the survey? I would be interested to try the survey again with only the two Agree and the two Disagree categories. Analysis For the purpose of the motivation questionnaire and the interviews, the music used for singing was classified according to two features: familiar/unfamiliar tunes and songs of faith/songs of culture. The name designation of this second feature is not meant to imply that faith and culture are somehow dichotomous, nor that songs are either based in faith or in culture. However, given the nature of the college where the study was conducted, there are numerous faith-based songs that were familiar to most of the students in English (that are also available in Spanish) and one’s faith commitment can often provoke an emotional response. I was curious to investigate whether singing those particular songs in the target language had any different impact on students than the singing of those with no faith-based connection. The other songs used for singing were folk songs from various Spanish-speaking countries and thus, for distinction purposes, labeled Songs of Culture. 84 There were three initial steps to the analysis for the motivation questionnaire after the data from the questionnaire had been entered into SPSS, a statistical analysis computer program for research. The first step was to run the descriptive statistics for the data. In the second step, a Pearson Product- Moment Correlation test was run on the items in the questionnaire. Finally, to test for reliability, Cronbach alpha internal consistency reliability coefficients were computed for each of the nineteen scales of the questionnaire. The data in Table 1 indicate that the Cronbach alpha coefficients are very good, with the exception of two, Ethnocentrism and Cooperativeness, which do not greatly impact the overall study. The mean reliability coefficient for the 18 scales is .67, which is considered acceptable considering that most of the scales were relatively small in number of items (Domyei & Clement, 2001; Démyei & Csizér, 2002). Due to the small population size, more in-depth statistical analyses were not possible. The complete analysis and the discussion are in chapter 6. Interviews The fourth method for data collection was to interview individual students (see Appendix P for interview protocol). Five students were chosen at random by the research assistant for interviews out of the total list of students that had agreed to be interviewed. The interviews took place in my office after the end of the semester at a time set up by the research assistant according to what was convenient for the students (Appendix 0 contains a copy of the letter sent by the research assistant). Each interview lasted approximately one hour. 85 I,“ Table 1 Reliabi I . Social | ‘Pedagi . [Types I Skill BL ! GiOUp I \ I I, Din 'r\ Ethnoc. L\ , Value: I IValue: | \ '_ Value; I f\\ I Value: I Table 1 Reliability Scores for the Motivation Questionnaire Scale Questions Crggbvzch Social Context 23, 24, 25, 30, 36, 37 .650 Pedagogical Context (13323333 50’ 55’ 56’ 61’ .895 Types of Songs 43, 57, 58, 64, 65 .888 Skill Building 68, 70, 73, 75, 77 .798 Group Cohesion 31, 38, 39, 40 .672 Din 71, 80 .718 Ethnocentrism 1 9, 21 , 26, 32 .353 Value: Integrative Orientation 1, 20, 27, 33 .624 Value: Interest in FL and Cultures 2, 3, 5, 22 .552 Value: Language Requirement 4 n.a. Value: Heritage Language 28, 34 .623 Value: Instrumental Orientation 6, 7, 8, 10 .683 Value: Intrinsic Motivation 9, 11, 12, 13, 44, 51, 59, 60 .904 Value: Task Value 14, 15, 16 .680 Expectancy: Expectancy 45, 69, 72 .796 Expectancy: Anxiety 48, 52, 53, 62 .748 Expectancy: Language Aptitude 67, 74, 76, 78 .625 Expectancy: Motivational Strength 17, 47, 49, 54, 79, 83 .705 Cooperativeness 29, 35 .21 0 86 Dunr each The t prose relere Proble lianSCr subjec‘ Semesl Thain amums I asked Ownedu During the interviews I took in situ notes and l taped each interview with the permission of the interviewee. I used a tape recorder and cassette tapes for this. After the completion of the interviews, a research assistant transcribed each interview into a spreadsheet according to question number and section. The transcriptions were color-coded according to type of response and were analyzed and compared to the data received from the other data collection procedures. Pertinent comments from the students were highlighted for easier reference in the analysis. Problems with the lntervie ws Though I encountered no problems in the actual interviews or in the transcription process, I would recommend a change in the choice of interview subjects in a similar study. The interviews had to be conducted after the semester ended, but they needed to be set up prior to the end of the semester. That meant that, since I could not know who had agreed to participate during the actual semester, I had to ask the research assistant to choose the interviewees. I asked her to choose them at random, but we did not discuss the exact procedure. While I ended up with gender diversity among the interviewees (two male, two female), there were a couple of similarities that could be problematic. The first was that each of these students was from the 9:00 class. It would have been better to have some students from each of the two classes for the interviews. The second similarity was that most of the students interviewed were ones that were struggling to some degree in the class.13 Although this does not ‘3 The class rank for each of these students was 36, 41, 48, and 50 out of 55 students. 87 the in! throug answer best org. coded f I also ac COdlng (1 me the p organize and a col ”Umbers . Some brie Ihe sluder A la b13’7“}wa r The (thaws;S let I Coold r the mUSic at negate the validity of these interviews or the data collected, it may have been better to interview students from a variety of ability levels. If time had permitted, more interviews would also have yielded richer data. Analysis The students’ motivation for L2 Ieaming was the focus of question five in the interview; however, there were comments made concerning motivation throughout the interviews. To analyze this section required looking beyond the answers to question five, so the code-sorted Excel spreadsheet provided the best organizational frame for the analysis. As I read through the comments coded for motivation, I highlighted words with color that stood out as significant. I also added brief summary comments in the column directly to the right of the coding columns. Though these were helpful beginning steps, it did not quite give me the perspective I needed to be able to think and write about it. In order to organize one step further, I needed to make a table with a row for each student and a column for various motivational factors. In the cells I noted the cell numbers of the references for each student under each motivational factor with some brief notes. This gave me a clearer understanding of the responses from the students. An example of this table can be found in Appendix R. A later interview question asked which music activities students found to be helpful to their language Ieaming. There were two problems that arose with the analysis of this question. One was that, due to the nature of the research, I felt I could not make explicit to the class my view of the importance of each of the music activities like I normally would do. I felt that to do so would compromise the legitimacy of the students’ responses during the gathering of 88 data. Thus, lacking any call to attention regarding the value of the activities, students may not have been consciously looking for significant connections between the music activities and their L2 Ieaming. The second problem had to do with the wording of the question. Unfortunately, due to the lack of specificity in the question (What types of music activities do you feel were most helpful to your language leaming?), in the responses of the students it was sometimes unclear as to which activity they were referring. Perhaps I should have asked a separate question for each type of music activity or each type of language skill so that the students would have thought about the benefits of each activity through more clearly. The next four chapters contain the analysis of each data set along with a discussion of the results. 89 I their be respon culture molrva‘ begins CHAPTER 4 STUDENT SECOND LANGUAGE BACKGROUND Exposures to L2 Early in the semester students filled out an information survey regarding their background experience with foreign language. The survey invited responses regarding prior L2 study, early life experience with other languages or cultures, exposure to L2 through family members, exposure to L2 through travel, motivations for L2 Ieaming, and perceptions of L2 experiences. This analysis begins with the students’ reports of prior exposure to formal language study. Prior L2 Study The first questions on the survey inquired about the number of languages studied, which languages were studied, and the number of years of formal study (01-2). Eighty-five percent of the students (41 of 48) reported that Spanish was the only language they had ever studied. The seven students (15%) who had exposure to more than one language included four students (8%) who had had an earlier opportunity to Ieam one other language (Hawaiian, French, or German) and three students (6%) who had exposure to two other languages: French and German or Navaho and Chinese. The length of formal L2 study ranged from one year to seven years (without any indication as to the depth or the extent of the study). Forty of the students (83%) reported only two or three years of L2 study compared to four students (8%) who had more—(up to seven years)—and four (8%) who had one 90 year or I students responSl intent lrc to toreigr TI exposure about stL asked Ihl which le oi the U,: CUIIuraI (I Fc SOmEOne sIUdenls peISOns f (1795) fel Russian. IUestion I II 5 0i CUIIUfe mlnmeS.) year or less. It should be noted that, since the question did not specify whether students were to count the current year (which was just beginning), the student responses here could vary by one year. There was no way to distinguish the intent from the written responses. Nevertheless, the limited long-term exposure to foreign language study for the majority of this group is clear. Early Life Exposures to Other Languages or Cultures The second section of the survey included two questions regarding exposure to other languages and cultures (03-4). The first question inquired about students’ earliest encounters with a different culture and the other question asked the same about languages. The report of the cultures and languages to which students were first exposed is not surprising considering the social context of the US. The highest frequencies for both cross-lingual (CL) and cross- cultural (CC) experiences fell under the label Hispanic. For culture, 12 students (25%) reported that their first encounter with someone from a different culture involved a person of Hispanic origin. Several students (6) listed African American or African and others noted encounters with persons from East Asian (5) and European countries (5). Eight of the responses (17%) fell into the Other category, including Muslim, Haitian, Zuni, “Indian”, Russian, “many,” and “inner-city Chicago.” Twelve of the students (25%) left the question blank. It stands to reason that the impact of an encounter with another language or culture may depend in part on the duration of the exposure. The length of time for the earliest encounters with a different culture ranged from minutes (“five minutes”) to several years (“throughout my schooling”). For fourteen of the 91 students (29%) the earliest CC encounter was of a brief nature, ranging in time from minutes to weeks, while for 17 students (35%) the encounter was extended, meaning months or even years. There were 17 students (35%) who did not respond to the question. The reason for this is unknown; however, it could be that for some it is rather difficult to pinpoint such an occurrence. For language, 21 students (44%) reported that their first encounter with someone from a different language background involved the Spanish language. A much smaller number of students comprised the second group: eight students ( 17%) had encountered a European language at their earliest CL experience. The languages included Dutch, French, German, and Italian. Four students (8%) recalled their earliest CL encounter with various East Asian language groups (Vietnamese, Korean, and Chinese). There were two students (4%) each for African, Creole, and Native American languages. The length of earliest exposure to another language was similar to that of culture. There were 17 (35%) whose earliest CL experience was brief and 15 (31%) for whom it was an extended exposure. In addition to the 11 (23%) who gave no response to this question, there were others (5) who responded in a way that was difficult to categorize, for example, one said “not long,” and another said, “I hear [Spanish] all the time in the malls and restaurants.” These and three more ended up in an Other category. A comparison of the data for CC and CL regarding length of exposure is found in Table 2. 92 Table 2 Duration of Exposure for Earliest Cross-Cultural and Cross-Lingual Experiences Earliest Cross- Earliest Cross- Duration of first encounter Cultural (CC) Lingual (CL) Experience Experience Brief (from minutes to weeks) 14 (29%) 17 (35%) Extended (from months to years) 17 (35%) 15 (31%) Other 0 (00/0) 5 (10%) No Response 17 (35%) 11 (23%) Total 48 (100%)14 48 (100%) The comparison of the data for duration of earliest CC and CL experiences shows that 64% of the students recalled some type of CC experience (either brief or extended) and 66% recalled a brief or extended CL experience. More students (35%) remembered a brief CL encounter than a brief CC encounter (29%), while slightly fewer recalled an extended CL (31 %) than CC experience (35%). This could be due to the limited nature of the CL experiences within the current social context, making them more memorable as a brief encounter and less frequent as an extended encounter. It is unclear as to why more students declined to respond to the question for duration of the CC experience (35%) than for CL (23%). The age of one’s earliest (recalled) exposure to a cross-lingual or cross- cultural event could indicate something of the availability of exposure " The sum here is 100%, though it appears to be only 99%, due to the rounding of the percents. 93 opportunities as well as the perceived value for L2 Ieaming. For culture, 16 students (33%) recalled a CC experience in their early years (0-5), while 11 students (23%) remembered the first CC experience during their elementary years. There were ten (21 %) that did not have the experience of crossing cultures until middle school or high school and 11 (23%) that did not respond. For CL experiences, the number of students under each age category was practically reversed. There were only 11 students (23%) with a CL experience in their early years, 13 (27%) during the elementary years, and 16 (33%) during middle school and high school. Eight students did not respond to the question. The frequencies of response and the corresponding percentages for both CC and CL are shown in Table 3. Table 3 Age at Earliest Cross-CulturaVCross-Lingual Experience Earliest Cross-Cultural Earliest Cross-Lingual Experience Experience Age at first Response Percent of Response Percent of encounter frequencies total frequencies total 0-5 16 33% 1 1 23% 6-1 2 1 1 23% 1 3 27% 13-18 10 21% 16 33% No response 1 1 23% 8 17% Total 0 O 94 Several differences can be noted in the ages of students for these two types of experiences. Although the greatest frequency, one-third of the students, recalled their earliest cross-cultural experience at an early age (0-5), the highest frequency for earliest cross-lingual experience (33%) was during the middle school or high school years. This may say something about the limited availability of CL experiences for our students which could imply segregation within educational institutions and the value (or lack thereof, in this case) of second language acquisition for this population. Also in the data, there were fewer students who had no response to the CL question than the CC question which could be because more of these occurred later in life or that the experience was more memorable due to the unique nature of (and perhaps the communication difficulties caused by) the CL experience. Further analysis can be done by comparing the two types of experiences to see whether the CC experience is the same as or unique from the CL experience. For 20 of the students (42%) the first CC experience was linked directly to the earliest CL experience. The responses from the other students varied with several remembering separate experiences for each and some stating only one experience, leaving the other blank. Of the nineteen total responses labeled No Response, there were five students who left both the CC and CL experience items blank. While it may be that the question was unclear in some way, I believe that the no-response was more due to the difficulty in providing exact information on this item. One student who did not cite an age of first experience implied the reason for the lack of specificity in the answer, 95 “Spanish—l hear them all the time in malls and restaurants.” The comparison of same experience vs. distinct experience results can be seen in Table 4. Table 4 Comparison of Same Experience vs. Distinct Experiences for Cross-Cultural or Cross-Lingual Encounters Age ranges Crosgglytural CroscsD-hiygual CSEeI-riggge 0-5 8 2 8 6-12 5 8 6 13-1 8 4 1 O 6 No Response 1 1 8 -- Totals 28 28 20 A number of interesting features can be noted about these data that may have implications for internal or external motivation factors for students. Though a number of students could not recall their first CC or CL experience (11 and 8 respectively), fewer students had difficulty recalling their first CL experience than CC experience. Also of interest is the fact that students tended to recall their first CC experience as occurring at an earlier age. Looking at those students who recalled separate CC and CL experiences, there were eight students who recalled an early-age CC experience, while there were only two who remembered an early CL experience. At the same time, the CL experiences tended to be recalled as occurring later in life (13-18 years). Only two students recalled an early age CL experience, whereas there were ten who noted their 96 first CL experience as occurring during middle school or high school years. The later exposure to another language again suggests the limited L2 exposure within the current social context for students prior to middle school or even high school. These results suggest, first of all, that this group of students, though attending a private college supported by a single church denomination with strong ties to a Dutch heritage, is not a homogenous group when it comes to CC or CL experience. Their backgrounds as far as CC and CL experience are varied. Also, the fact that fewer students tended to recall an early CL experience than CC experience may seem strange since 3 CL experience would seem to be more memorable than CC due to the added difficulties in communication that might result. It may suggest that there are few opportunities for CL experiences for these students or that students in this population (and their caregivers) tend to shy away from, or even avoid, any situation that would bring them to an encounter with a person from another language background, thus the smaller frequency of earlier CL experiences. It may also point to the social context in the U.S. where, although foreigners may be present in the social context, they are expected to speak English if they want to communicate; we do not need to Ieam their language. As mentioned earlier, it could also reflect a segregational reality in our school systems. This finding is significant considering the research of Piaget, Lambert, and others regarding the age of ten being a critical age in the development of attitudes toward nations and groups perceived as “other" (Lambert and Klineberg, 1967, in Curtain and Dahlberg, 2004, p. 395). 97 Exposure through Family The next questions on the survey requested information on the knowledge and use of second languages in the students’ family background (05-6). Here the focus of the questions was broadened to include English as a second language (ESL) since some family members may not be native English speakers, which could influence a family’s or a student’s perception of second language learning. For the sake of clarity, the questions distinguish between those family members possessing a second ’foreign’ language from those having Ieamed English as a second language. A summary of the data can be found in Table 5. In regards to second language fluency in the students’ family background, Table 5 shows that two-thirds of the students surveyed (69%) reported no L2 fluency in their immediate family and just less than half (48%) reported no L2 fluency in their extended families.34 The category with the largest response was under ESL fluency where 94% of the students had no immediate family members, and 81% had no extended family members for whom English was a second language. Seventy- seven percent had neither. Only two of the students (4%) reported that they had “many” family members who spoke English as a second language (in both cases extended family) and only two (4%) reported “many" family members who spoke a second ‘foreign’ language (also extended family). This lack of direct exposure to L2 (or to L1 other than English in the case of speakers of ESL) through 3‘ Since the term “fluency" was not defined for students in the question, there most likely was some variation among students as to their individual perception of what might indicate L2 fluency. Without being trained in assessing L2 fluency, the students very likely included some family members in their reporting that can speak some L2, but would not be considered to be fluent. 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S 55, 22.2 8.085 5.; :53 92.855. >052“. ommsmcg ucoomm 53> 98:55. >__Em..._ m 22m... 99 immediate or extended family may suggest either that prevailing attitudes within this population have not strongly encouraged second language Ieaming, or that opportunities to Ieam an L2 have been limited, or perhaps both. Exposure through Travel If students are not exposed to the value for L2 through their immediate or extended families, another way to encounter the need for L2 Ieaming would be through travel to places that provide exposure to other languages. The results from 07 regarding travel can be seen in Tables 6 and 7. Thirteen of the Table 6 Travel to Places that Provided L2 Exposure Number of Times Traveled Student Responses 0 13 (27%) 1 12 (25%) 2 9 (19%) 3 7 (15%) 4 0 (0%) 5 0 (0%) 6 1 (2%) Many 4 (8%) No response 2 (4%) Total 48 100 students (27%) said they had not traveled to any place that provided exposure to another language. Twelve students (25%) had been to such a place only one time. These first two categories (no travel or only once) contain more than half (52%) of the participants involved in the survey. Sixteen students (33%) reported 2 or 3 CL travel experiences and only five of the forty-eight respondents (10%) traveled more than three times to locations that encouraged cross-lingual exchange. Two (4%) had no response to the question. Table 7 shows a summary of the places visited and the number of students that listed them on their survey. Due to the frequency of response, Mexico, the place most visited (15), was put in a separate category, though for the sake of this study (since the students surveyed were in a Spanish language class), the responses for other Spanish-speaking countries (4) could be added to it making the total references to Spanish-speaking countries, 19. This coincides with the higher numbers of CC and CL encounters involving persons of Hispanic origin that were reported earlier. Places in Europe (Italy, Netherlands, England, Belgium, France, and Germany, but not counting Spain, since that was included in the Spanish- speaking countries) were second in the number of times cited, while Canadian visits took third place. There were six references to various other countries and six students referred to locations within the U.S. when asked about travel. Of the four students whose responses were placed in the “many" category, one did not specify the place and one has a father originally from Trinidad where they have gone to visit extended family numerous times; the other two cited experiences 101 Table 7 Places Visited that Provided L2 Exposure Places Visited Student Responses Mexico 15 Other Spanish-Speaking Countries 4 Europe 8 Canada 5 Other Countries 6 Other Domestic Locations 6 close to home. One stated, “Went to a Mexican restaurant” and the other said, “My mom owns a salon in a primarily Spanish community and she often asked me to translate.” Though these last two were not specifically travel, they were counted with the student responses as exposure to L2 (beyond family members). Motivations for Second Language Learning Another factor that may influence student perceptions of the value of L2 Ieaming is their own L2 Ieaming experiences. Question 8 centered on personal motivations for Ieaming a second language. The responses were first categorized into positive, negative, mixed, and no response (see Table 8). The majority of the students (65%) reported that they saw value in Ieaming a second language and/or wanted to Ieam one, which is interesting considering the lack of exposure to L2 noted earlier. There were nine students (19%) that either did not 102 want to Ieam a second language or stated that they saw no need for it. Three students (6%) wrote a mixed response, indicating that while they thought it was important in general, they did not want to be forced to Ieam a second language. Five students wrote no response, four of whom had nothing written for any question on the back side of the survey sheet and thus, may have missed these questions by mistake rather than knowingly having chosen not to respond. Table 8 Motivations for L2 Learning (General) Motivation Response Number of Students Positive (+) 31 (65%) Negative (-) 9 (19%) Mixed (+/-) 3 (6%) No Response 5 ( 10%) Total 48 (100%) After the initial positive/negative grouping, the responses were categorized under more specific labels. For the specific response categories no percentages are shown because several students wrote comments that placed into more than one category making the number of responses not equal to the number of students. A summary of the results is shown in Table 9. 103 Table 9 Motivations for L2 Learning (Specific) Specific Response Categories (+/-) Frequency of Response Communication (+) 14 Utilitarian (+) 11 Interest in Language/Culture (+) 7 Non-Utilitarian (-) 5 Graduation Requirement (-) 4 Too Much Work (-) 1 Non-Interest H 2 No Response 5 The largest set of positive responses (14) was categorized under the label Communication. One student, showing a distinct desire to Ieam a second language, said, “I think it’s awesome to have another way to express yourself and also connect with others from Spanish background.” Another wrote, “Spanish as my second language will help me in the future to communicate with the many Hispanics/Mexicans in America, and also when I visit those places.” Other positive responses included eleven students who cited utilitarian reasons for wanting to study a language, such as “Spanish is a growing language and it’ll be helpful to know” or “It can help me in my career.” Seven responses indicated an interest in the language itself with comments like, “[It would be] nice to speak Spanish,” “I want to be able to Ieam another language well,” and “I want to Ieam more about God’s world.” 104 Twelve students expressed a lack of desire to Ieam a second language. Five of these took a non-utilitarian stance with comments such as, “I won’t use a second language in the career I want to go into.” Four cited “graduation requirements” as the reason for studying an L2 which was counted in the negative category since it only indicated an indirect motivation to complete the course to graduate, but did not indicate any direct motivation to Ieam an L2. Two students expressed a general lack of interest in Ieaming another language without giving a specific reason. One student, alluding to the difficulty of Ieaming an L2 and also indicating an attitude that would tend to diminish motivation for L2 Ieaming, wrote, “too much work for too little benefit...We speak English in America...” Of the three responses in the Mixed category, two acknowledged the general importance of, or an interest in, Ieaming a second language, but stated frustration or annoyance with having to Ieam one. The third student in this group noted a personal desire to Ieam an L2, but not as a core requirement to get a degree. Thus, despite the limited exposure to second language/culture through personal experience indicated by some questions of the survey, just less than two-thirds of the students expressed a positive motivation for L2 Ieaming. The positive nature of this response, however, will later be contrasted with results from the Motivation Survey. 105 Perceptions of Second Language Experiences The next question inquired about the students’ perspectives on their prior L2 experiences (see Table 10). There were nine that reported a negative experience, 18 that reported a positive experience, six that mentioned both positive and negative aspects (for one of these I was unable to determine a classification), and 14 who gave no response. Four of the respondents listed more than one reason for being either positive or negative. Table 10 Positive or Negative L2 Experiences in the Past Past L2 Experiences Positive Negative TraveVLife Experience 15 7 Class Activities/Requirements 3 3 Speaking 2 2 Use of Music 3 0 Teacher 2 2 Expectancy of Success 0 1 Correction 1 0 Category Totals 2617 15 Total Student Responses 24 15 No Response 14 '7 Since the question item was open-ended, students could list more than one reason regarding positive or negative L2 experiences in the past. Therefore, this number is higher than the number of students responding positively. 106 By far, the majority of the students offering positive comments (15 of 24) attributed the positive outlook to having had an opportunity to use the L2 through travel, work, or family connections. On the positive side, one student wrote, Spending two and a half weeks in Quebec, Canada [was positive]. They speak French there and there were situations where people didn’t know much English. I picked up a few phrases just by being around French all day for two weeks. A very rewarding experience. For this student, the travel experience provided a launch pad for an intrigue and an expectation of success with a second language. Interestingly, life experience or travel was also the most frequent comment on the negative side, though it appears to have more positive effect than negative. Most of the negative life experience comments had to do with lack of comprehension, but one student reacted particularly negatively to a travel experience, writing, “Visiting Mexico was negative (dirty and gross) and [to] have the Spanish culture begin to take over my hometown was negative.” The frequency of other responses regarding class activities, speaking, and teacher factors were evenly distributed between positive and negative. Of the negative responses, five mentioned a specific experience that they perceived as negative (such as “I remember being frustrated and confused when trying to communicate with some of my Dutch relatives”), two referred to the teacher as a negative feature, and two referred to other aspects such as the difficulty of L2 comprehension or the heavy work load. One student who stated a negative experience was particularly direct, though perhaps missing the point of 107 the questior that a persc OI p2 unsolicited) classes. Ti L2 Ieaming another me comments I 81:“ didn' This is impi does. Perl and practic ammmm1 stated, “All negallive 9 Its experiemg aspects the question, saying, “[L2 exposure/Ieaming for me was negative] when I Ieamed that a person who knows no English can vote.” Of particular interest to this study were the three specific (though unsolicited) comments regarding the enjoyment of the use of music in prior classes. Two students had experienced both positive and negative aspects of L2 Ieaming and both mentioned music in relation to the positive; speaking, another means of oral expression, was the negative aspect in both cases. Their comments follow: S1: “I’m nervous about speaking a language, but I like to sing songs in other languages and understand them!” 82: “I enjoy singing songs in Spanish and I enjoy working in groups, but I didn’t like speaking in front of the class in Spanish.” This is important to note since singing uses many of the same skills as speaking does. Perhaps it can serve as a less threatening avenue for the development and practice of oral skills. A third student reported that the current L2 class was a contrast to prior negative experiences. Without offering any specifics she stated, “All through grade school, middle school, and high school I have had a negative experience—this has been my first positive language experience.” It could be that students perceive L2 Ieaming as negative for other than experiential reasons. The final question asked the students to state any negative aspects of the L2 Ieaming process for them (see Table 11). There were two 108 ——-——‘—_’— Iable II Negative Asl ( h [Difficulty k.— lack of inter I“ ,Non-utilily 1 Expectancy (x I Anti-Immigrz :IIethodoIog' \ I I Tot L\ i Total SIUdel k\ i (N0 Negative I'\_ I ( Total SIUdel \ I No RGSpong \ stuctenis the respond.18 For Stated mos FOUI of t 3$SUmed a Second Sir: Table 11 Negative Aspects of Foreign Language Learning Negative Aspects Frequency of response Difficulty 26 Lack of interest 6 Non-utility 5 Expectancy 3 Anti—Immigrant 2 Methodology 2 Total Negative Reasons Given 44 Total Students Responding Negatively 41 No Negative Aspects 2 Total Students Responding to Question 43 No Response 5 students that said there were no negative aspects and five that did not respond.18 For the others, the negative aspects fell into various categories. The one stated most frequently was labeled “Difficulty” (26 students). One student stated, '8 Four of these had no answers for any questions on the back page, therefore, not much can be assumed about the intentionality of the lack of response. They may have simply missed the second side of the survey as noted earlier. 109 I’ve never been asked to Ieam the language before, I was always told to spit out the information. Since it’s a cumulative Ieaming process, I was always extremely frustrated and discouraged. Another exclaimed, “It’s so hard! It is the only class that your brain has to be working all the time.” The rest of the responses were divided more evenly among five other categories: lack of interest, non-utility, expectancy for success, anti-immigrant, and methodology. Expectancy for success was another area mentioned by the students as a negative aspect of L2 Ieaming, which may be related to those categorized under “Difficulty”. The remarks of three of the students fell into this category. One stated that L2 Ieaming was negative because of “doing poorly when I try,” and another wrote, “I am very, very slow at picking it up.” Six others indicated a general lack of interest in Ieaming a second language. One student commented, “Not a lot of people really care about it, they’re just taking it for requirement reasons.” Another said, “It is too hard. ...I don’t have a very large passion to Ieam it either.” Five of the comments were grouped under the label “Non-Utility.” One student wrote, “It is not necessary. Being required to Ieam something makes it unenjoyable—we should Ieam it because we want to. I do not want to Ieam Spanish.” Another responded, “Most of us will never need to use [a second language], while we are still forced to Ieam one.” Two other students exhibited negative attitudes toward immigrants. One said, “They are in our country—why do we have to Ieam their language.” The other wrote, “It’s frustrating that U.S. natives have to Ieam Spanish so that migrants (usually illegal) can adapt in our 110 society. the US with 8]: learning I IntereS‘ able to society social I IO Slip; Survey two or IOUI 0r society.” Thus, despite the fact that there are over 35 million Hispanics living in the U.S., making up 12.5% of the population and twenty-one nations in the world with Spanish-speaking populations, these students fail to see any value in Ieaming a second language. Finally, there were two students that commented regarding methodology. Interestingly, for both of them the concern was specifically stated as “not being able to speak enough.” Summary of Findings The literature review suggested that students in mainstream American society will tend to lack initiative for L2 Ieaming due in part to the monolingual social context in which they live. The results from this portion of the study tend to support at least parts of that premise. Eighty-five percent of the students surveyed had only studied one language other than English and 83% had only two or three years of L2 study by the time they were in college.19 Only 8% had four or more years of language study. More students recalled their first cross-lingual experience during middle school/high school than during elementary school or younger (even though they reported more cross-cultural experiences during the younger age bracket). Cross-lingual experiences due to travel were also limited. More than one-fourth of the students (13 of 48) in these two classes had not traveled to any place that provided exposure to another language. Another one-fourth (12 of 48) had only '9 As stated in chapter 3, the question did not specify to participants whether or not to count the current year of study. If the current year was counted, the actual years of study would be one less than stated, since we were only at the beginning of the semester. 111 done so once in their lifetime. Only five students (10%) had more than three cross-lingual travel experiences. Thus, for many students, the frequency of cross-lingual experiences through school experience or through travel is limited and, as a possible consequence, there remains a lack of encouragement for the development of L2 skills. The rate of non-fluency in an L2 in the students’ families is 66.7% for immediate family and 47.9% for extended family. For English as a second language it is 93.8% for immediate and 81.3% for extended family. This also lends support to the notion of limited exposure to L2 use and, therefore, reinforces the notion of the non-normalcy of L2 fluency. Though the limited exposure to L2 through family members, in school and through travel experiences does not clearly point out causes, it does indicate key aspects of a value system in the cultural expectations for this population, and also in the educational system and in the broader society. Without meaningful experiences that demonstrate the value of speaking another language, students will fail to see value for L2 Ieaming in an academic setting. Despite the lack of exposure to L2 in the culturaVsocial environment, 65% of the respondents said they wanted to Ieam an L2, many of them because they realized the value of L2 Ieaming for communication, for future professional work, or for personal interest in second language and culture. However, prior life experiences with L2 brought both positive and negative responses from students toward Ieaming a second language. There was a strikingly high response regarding the difficulty of L2. When asked about the negative aspects of L2 Ieaming, 26 of the 43 (60%) who 112 responder understar at the beg negative; Ieamed [i‘ they may language moved to they were countryi’c olone‘s I. value? c exIlenenc L2 Ieamir Students SOCIeIIes Of Speaking: Singing in SkiIIs Th Ihe more Nature 0( languag, responded to the question commented on the difficulty of L2 Ieaming. This is understandable considering the fact that these students, at college-age, are only at the beginning levels of L2 Ieaming. One student commented that one negative aspect of L2 Ieaming was “starting so late in life. I wish I would have Ieamed [it] earlier.” Had these students started L2 Ieaming as young children, they may have grown up with a different perspective regarding the process of language Ieaming. The same difference in perspective might be noticed if they moved to a Spanish-speaking country for six months and saw a need for what they were Ieaming. How might a student that grows up in a different country/culture view the difficulty of L2 Ieaming? ls L2 Ieaming difficult because of one’s language aptitude or because of a Ieamed perspective regarding L2 value? Or perhaps because of pattems of societal avoidance of cross-lingual experiences? What gives students the sense that they will not be successful in L2 Ieaming? It would be interesting to compare the perceptions of these students regarding the difficulty of L2 Ieaming to that of college students in other societies in which L2 fluency is the norm. Of particular interest to this study (especially in contrast to their fear of speaking) were the unsolicited comments by students regarding the use of singing in (previous) L2 classes, since both speaking and singing require oral skills. There are differences between singing and speaking, of course, such as the more spontaneous nature of some speech acts and the choral and repetitive nature of singing. However, it may be that, for those with fear of voicing the language, music can serve as a bridge to build essential skills in pronunciation, vocabulary, grammatical structures, and syntax. In the next chapter, the data 113 from student perceptions of the value of music activities for L2 Ieaming and as a participation stimulus will suggest a strong connection between music activities and participation. 114 MUSIC AND MOTIVATION IN THE SECOND LANGUAGE COLLEGE CLASSROOM Volume II By Marcie J. Pyper A DISSERTATION Submitted to Michigan State University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY Department of Teacher Education 2005 CHAPTER 5 PERCEPTIONS OF CLASS ACTIVITIES In order to take a closer look at the usefulness of music activities for L2 Ieaming, it is important to gather information from students on their perceptions of those activities. This chapter will consider the student responses to a brief post-instruction survey given at the end of five class periods. Student Responses to Daily Evaluations On five separate days data were collected from students regarding the activities used in class that day. A summary of the dates, activities, and number of responses (including both positive and negative responses) is shown in Table 12. Though the responses to listening and singing were somewhat balanced, the responses for the composing activity was much higher. This could be attributed to the success or failure of the activity, but it could also be that there were fewer activities during that class period on which to comment, thus making the music activity the focus of more responses. Forty-eight students consented to have data from their daily evaluations used in the study. The number of responses is higher than the number of students because there were four open- ended questions on the daily evaluation sheet, thus adding to the possibility of responses to each activity. The discussion of the student responses follows, according to activity type. 115 Tait? On I activ mad Sinc also IOI 9 Sim MO 5 i C0Iltr activr activj Table 12 Responses for Music Activities Date Activity Number of Responses 28 Oct. Listening to a song . 38 4 Nov. Singing songs 4 49 6 Nov. Listening to a song (same song as 28 Oct.) 50 11 Nov. Listening to a song 48 12 Nov. Composing a song 77 Listening Throughout the semester students listened to six different songs in class. On three of those days they wrote class evaluations to four prompts: which class activity was most helpful to Ieaming (Q1), least helpful to Ieaming (02), and what made them feel most like participating (OS), or least like participating (Q4). Since there was more than one listening activity to which students responded, I also found it useful to indicate the frequencies of response by individual students for each evaluation category in another spreadsheet (see Appendix S). A summary of the frequencies of response by song are shown in Table 13. Most/Least Helpful The data in Table 13 show a marked difference between the number of comments regarding student perceptions of the helpfulness of the listening activities for Ieaming, with 17 responses that listening was the most helpful activity that day and 58 responses that it was not. However, the frequencies for 116 Table 13 Responses for Listening Activities 3°"9 Hgizssiin relic-33% Familiaie Palrtirfigtate ma's Ayer (18') 3 19 (3 +/-) 7 8 38 Ayer (2") 10 18 (2 +/-) 9 13 50 Dia a dia 4 21 (1 +/-) 12 1o 48 Totals 17 58 (6 +/-) 28 31 the desire to participate are much more balanced with 28 positive and 31 negative responses. There were a few comments under Least Helpful that were both positive and negative, for example, one student said, “The song, I guess, [was least helpful]. I think they help a lot, but it was really fast today.” The frequency of these mixed responses is designated by the symbols “+/-” and is included in the total number of Least Helpful responses for each category. Also of interest is the rise in Helpful responses between an earlier listening to one song (“Ayer”) and a subsequent listening to the same song. After the earlier listening, only three responded that the activity was helpful; after a subsequent listening, there were 10 that perceived the activity to be the most helpful activity that day. One student commented that the listening was helpful because of “trying to figure out by ear which words are being said.” Another said, “I Ieamed new words from the song.” Looking more closely at the data, of the ten who noted Most Helpful comments on a subsequent listening, we find that two of the students responded 117 positively on both occasions, the other eight had not written positive comments for the earlier listening activity. They may have found the repeated listening more helpful than the initial listening due to increased familiarity with the song and the tune. It could also be that the subsequent listening brought a sense of comfort and, perhaps, of success. Further research would need to be done to determine the effect of increased familiarity to a listening activity on a student’s perception of the value of the activity. One of the other class evaluation days involved listening to a different song. On this day there were four students who found the activity Most Helpful to their Ieaming. These same four had made similar comments on one or both of the other listening days showing some consistency in their perceived value of the listening activities. Across all three listening activities, there were six students that found the listening activity most helpful one time, four that found it most helpful two times and one that said it was most helpful on all three occasions (see Appendix S). Least Helpful categories. Because of the high number of responses to Least Helpful regarding listening activities, it was necessary to categorize these responses. The 58 responses in the Least Helpful section for listening represent responses from 31 students. The categories and frequencies are shown in Table 14. A number of students (28) indicated that the activity was not helpful to their learning, but did not give a clear reason, even though the question sheet asked them to indicate why. Others were more specific. Fifteen of the comments referred to the activity’s lack of relevance towards meeting the 118 Table 14 Categories and Responses for Listening: Least Helpful Category Frequency of Response20 Relevance to Course Assessments 15 Level of Difficulty 14 Pleasure 5 (3+, 2-) No Indication or Unclear 28 demands of the course. (Only one of these was a student who, from the initial student survey, showed low expectancy.) One student wrote, “Songs [were least helpful] because [I] didn’t Ieam verbs and forms needed for [the] test.” Fourteen commented on the level of difficulty. For most of these the activity was too difficult, though there was one that had completed the cloze sheet during the previous listening and, as a result, offered the opinion that the activity was not challenging enough. Among those who thought the activity too difficult, one student remarked, “The songs go too fast, I can’t understand them.” Another wrote, “Too busy listening for specifics that I don’t catch [the] meaning.” Several students commented on their appreciation for (3) or dislike of (2) the activity. One student said, “The song got sickening because it was played so many times.” On the positive side one student wrote, “It doesn’t really help when we listen to the songs, although I like it.” This student experienced pleasure in the activity without perceiving the value. 119 Regarding the Least Helpful activities some students showed consistency of response across the listening activities (see Table 15). Looking at both ends of the spectrum, while 6 students (13%) perceived the listening as Least Helpful on all three surveys, there were 21 students (44%) that did not select listening as Least Helpful at all. In between those two extremes, there were 12 of the 48 respondents (25%) that perceived the listening as Least Helpful on two occasions and nine of the students (19%) reported listening as Least Helpful on only one of the three survey occasions. There were three students who remarked that the listening was Least Helpful on one day and Most Helpful on another. One of those students said on the first listening, “It doesn’t really help when we listen to songs, although I like it.” After a subsequent listening of the same song, the same student wrote, “I Ieamed new words from the song” (see Appendix 8 for more detailed information regarding individual responses). These data may indicate that increased familiarity with a musical text may be necessary for some students to perceive the benefits of listening. Overall, the findings regarding the Least Helpful ratings for listening activities could cause some concern. The total Least Helpful responses represent 31 students, while there were 11 students that rated the listening as Most Helpful. It is understandable that, if they do not see the relevance of the activity to course goals or if the activity is too difficult, the students will not assign value to the activity. However, three cautions must be kept in mind regarding these results: one due to the wording of the survey instrument; another 2° The sum of these figures does not equal 48 because some student responses fit into more than one category. 120 Table 15 Consistency of Least Helpful Responses for Listening Legisgggggiiaigssey Number of Students 0,3 21 (44%) 1,3 9 (19%) 2,3 12 (25%) 3,3 6 (13%) 48 (100%) regarding student goals for Ieaming; and finally, the other on account of conducting research in my own classes. The wide gap between the number of Least Helpful and Most Helpful responses may be related to the way the prompt on the daily evaluation was worded. The evaluation form did not ask specifically if listening was or was not helpful at all to Ieaming; rather it asked students to name one activity that was Most Helpful or Least Helpful to Ieaming on that day. Thus, while the number of responses to the Least Helpful prompt most likely indicates a lack of value for the listening activity and the Most Helpful responses indicate value of listening for Ieaming, there may have been students who saw value in the listening activity but found another activity that day to be more helpful. (The opposite could also be true.) If this is the case, the students in this category that perceived some value (but not Most) had no opportunity to record that information. The obvious 121 In DC conclusion here is that the wording of the prompt may have eliminated responses from students that did in fact see value in the listening activities. The second caution involves a disparity between student goals for Ieaming and the course assessments. Since the grammar-based nature of the Spanish language course is reflected in texts and quizzes, students may have perceived a disconnect between the listening to songs and their success in the course. As they were asked to record activities most helpful or least helpful to their Ieaming, they may have been drawn more toward activities with a clear connection to personal success on assessments rather than to a long range goal of L2 fluency. There may have been different results had the structure of the course included assessments pertaining to the music activities, or if students had personal goals regarding L2 fluency. These data attributes influenced my decision about whether to conduct a chi-square test on the cells of data tables. The data themselves are ill-suited for a chi-square test, and the small number of observations in some cells is quite small. Most important, a chi-square test for the independence of rows and columns does not address my underlying research question. It seems best to simply draw the obvious conclusions from the data (such as the preponderance of Least Helpful over Most Helpful answers in Table 13) without a formal statistical test. Finally, since this research project involved perceptions from my own students on the value of music activities, I was limited in discussing metacognitive strategies concerning music activities with the students so as to not intentionally feed them responses regarding the purposes for or the value of 122 the music activities. This could have had an effect on some students who need their attention specifically directed to Ieaming strategies or need to see value before applying energy and attention to a task. More research would need to be done to determine what possible effects explicit instruction regarding the benefits of incorporating music into the classroom would have on the students’ perception of the value of the activities. Most/L east Participate The third question on the evaluation asked which activity made the students feel most like participating. In this section, the 28 responses across three listening days represent 20 students, or 42% of the respondents. Of the 20 students, thirteen (27%) responded positively for one of the three listening activities, six (13%) wrote a positive response for two of the three, and one student (2%) wrote a positive response in this category for all three listening activities. Again, considering the wording of the question and the fact that students could choose any activity from the class those days, the percentage of students (42%) rating the listening activity as Most Participate seems high. It is difficult to compare this with the other (non-music) Most Participate ratings from the three days since the students did not have multiple opportunities to respond to the other types of activities like they did for listening. Nevertheless, there was one activity on two different days that received Most Participate ratings from more than 20 students: verb form flashcards (24) and Strip Story (21). A verb worksheet received 19. Therefore, it seems that the Most Participate response for listening from 20 students overall is a strong response, keeping in 123 mind that the three opportunities to respond to listening may have influenced the results. Since evaluations were filled out on three of the listening days, it was possible to look separately at the responses to each song. The differences in response according to song are shown in Table 16. For the earlier listening there are fewer Most Participate responses than for the later listening (“Dia a dia”). This could mean that students enjoyed the activity more as they were involved in it over time or that they liked the style or rhythm of one song more than another, though there were no specific references from students comparing appreciation for one song more than another. Although many of the responses simply stated that the students felt more like participating because listening to the song was “fun,” others gave more specific reasons for wanting to participate. One student wrote for “Ayer” (II), “You had to keep your attention and focus to follow.” Another wrote, “It’s interactive, got me interested.” One of the comments for the song “Dia a dia” was, “[Listening to the song] was active and forced me to pay attention.” Table 16 Most Participate Responses according to Song Song Number of Most Participate Responses Ayer (I) 7 Ayer (ll) 9 Dia a dia 12 Total 28 124 The final question of the class evaluation asked students which activity made them feel least like participating. The 31 comments for listening under Least Participate represent 18 students (38%, a slightly lower percentage than for Most Participate). Only three of these students consistently responded negatively for this question on all three class evaluations, seven responded so on two of the three, and eight on only one. There were four students that provided seemingly contradictory assessments, commenting under Most Participate and under Least Participate for separate listening activities. One student said that listening to the song “Ayer” (ll) made him feel least like participating, but on a different day he noted that listening to the song “Dia a dia” made him feel most like participating because “it is the only thing I understand.” Another student enjoyed the “interactive” and “upbeat” nature of the listening activities on two of the days, but on the third evaluation of listening activities she rated it as making her feel least like participating because she “didn’t want to do it.” This same student had rated the listening activities as Least Helpful on two occasions. The ten students who responded negatively to listening two or three times for the participation questions, varied in their reasons. Some simply stated that they did not like listening to the songs. Others did not feel like participating because they did not see the value of the activity. One said, “I feel like it is kinda pointless.” Others found the repetition of the activity over several days to be the problem. Regarding the Least Participate choice, one said, “It’s stuck in my head [be]cause I have heard it so many times.” Another stated, “We do them too much, it’s not fun anymore.” One student mentioned the difficulty of the 125 activity by stating, “I couldn’t follow the song well” or, on another occasion, “I just get lost.” A different student wrote, “It overwhelms me.” Another mentioned the lack of relevance of the activity to class requirements, saying, “I knew it wouldn’t be graded and I wasn’t interested in it” and on a separate occasion, “I know we will go over them together and I don’t need the right answers.” Summary of Frequencies for Listening The data presented in Table 17 review some of the frequencies of response presented so far from the listening activities. The Least Helpful category received the most responses (58) from highest number of students, 31 out of 48, or 65%. The next highest category for number of students responding is the Most Participate category with 20 students (42%) saying they most felt like participating in the listening activities with 28 responses. This was two more than the Least Participate category which had 18 students (38%) responding. Only 11 students out of 48 (23%) perceived one or more of the listening activities to be Most Helpful to their Ieaming. The review of these results shows that, although the number of students who commented under Most Participate and Least Participate were quite close (20 and 18 respectively), there was quite a wide difference in the number of students who perceived the activity to be helpful and those who did not. This could suggest that, since the majority of the students do not view the listening activity as helpful to their Ieaming, students may need to be instructed about the value of certain class activities when those activities do not link in an obvious way to regular assessment measures. Without viewing the activity as directly related to success in mastering class material, students may not be willing 126 Table 17 Responses for Listening Activities by Question Most Least Most Helpful Least Helpful Participate Pa rlici p ate Number of Responses 1 7 58 28 31 Number °‘ 11 (23%) 31 (65%) 20 (42%) 18 (38%) Students On All Three Class 1 (2%) 6 (13%) 1 (2%) 3 (6%) Evaluations On Two of Three Class 4 (8%) 12 (25%) 6 (13%) 7 (15%) Evaluations On One of Three Class 6 (13%) 9 (19%) 13 (27%) 8 (17%) Evaluations On No Class o o o o Evaluations 37 (77 /o) 21 (44 /o) 28 (58 /o) 30 (63 /o) Total Students 48 48 48 48 to put forth the energy and attention needed to benefit from the activity. As mentioned earlier, although under normal class conditions I would regularly give such explanations, I did not during this semester so as not to feed my own data. I do believe that such explanations are critical for building students’ Ieaming strategies. If students are taking the course only because it is required, they may fail to see the importance of the course content. It could follow that they would also fail to see value in the various activities that require participation 127 energy without a clear connection to success in the course. It could also be true that if more students had perceived the listening as helpful, the number of Most Participate responses could have increased. Singing Students sang together in class on several occasions during the semester and they completed a class evaluation on one of those days. Of the 48 who gave consent for their evaluations to be used for this research, five were absent that day, setting the number of students responding to this particular evaluation at 43. A breakdown of the responses is shown in Table 18. Table 18 Responses for the Singing Activity Most Least Most Helpful Least Helpful Participate Participate Number of Students 3 21 (8 +/ ) 17 8 Percent °' 7% 49% (19%) 40% 19% Total21 (n = 43) Least Helpful This table shows that the highest number of responses falls under the Least Helpful heading with 21 students responding. However, of those 21 students, eight qualified the comment about least helpful by adding that they 2‘ These figures do not add up to 100% due to the fact that students were not limited to response in only one category. 128 enjoyed the singing. One student reported, “If I have to say one [least helpful], I would say singing. But I really like the singing. It’s fun and it wakes us up so don’t get rid of it.” This student recognized the value of singing as an enjoyable activity that livens up the class (a sometimes difficult task especially for early morning classesl), but failed to see the value of singing for L2 Ieaming. Another qualified the comment by giving a reason the singing was least helpful and also stating a way in which it was helpful: “Probably the singing [was least helpful], just because it doesn’t really apply to exactly what we were Ieaming. But it is helpful in Ieaming to say different words.” This student notes a very important feature of L2 Ieaming, that of Ieaming to pronounce new words, and acknowledges that the singing activities help to develop that skill, and yet seems unclear as to the connection between developing pronunciation skills and the overall course goals or one’s success in the course. In addition, one should note that, in every song there were specific features that did connect to what we were Ieaming, but the students seemed to be unaware of that fact. This is an important consideration for the instructor when using songs in the class and may need to be pointed out to students in order for them to perceive the value of the activity and respond appropriately. Eight of the 21 Least Helpful responses gave no clear indication as to the reason for the rating, but five of these also rated it as Most Participate. Thus, though they failed to see the value in singing, they were most encouraged to participate in- the activity. For a second language class, student involvement with the language is critical, and is especially valuable for developing oral skills. 129 Others were more specific as to the reason for the Least Helpful rating with reasons corresponding closely to those given for Least Helpful listening (see Table 19). Seven referred to the lack of relevance to what they “really needed to Ieam.” One said, “Singing won’t really help me with this chapter....” Another made a suggestion: “[Singing] doesn’t help us Ieam anything. I’d rather do a practice activity for what we’re currently studying.” However, three of the seven that responded concerning the relevance of the activity added that they enjoyed the activity. Two of the seven students under relevance also rated singing as Most Participate meaning that they enjoyed the activity even though they did not see a connection to mastery of course material. Four of them rated the singing as Least Participate (see Appendix T for singing responses by student code). For them the lack of perceived relevance may have affected the willingness to participate which could have important pedagogical implications for the L2 classroom. Table 19 Categories for Least Helpful Responses for Singing Least Helpful Categories Number of responses Relevance to the course Difficulty of the activity Time of day (morning) Mixed response (+/-) \lmwbfl No indication 130 Four of the other students in the Least Helpful category commented on the difficulty of the activity. One student wrote, “[My] concentration shifts from meaning of the words to singing so [I] don’t really get as much from it.” Interestingly, although one of these students also rated the singing as Least Participate, one other classified under difficulty/Least Helpful rated it as Most Participate. Another problem noted by three of the students was the time of day. (These two classes met at 8:00 and 9:00 am. four days a week!) Two of these students were from the 8 o’clock class and one from the 9 o’clock class. One of these three students also rated singing as Least Participate. Comments from two of the students were, “It’s too early to sing” and “Singing in the morning is hard.” The third reported a “hoarse voice” which made it difficult to sing, which could have been due to illness rather than the early hour of the day. Most Participate Looking again at Table 18, forty percent of the students surveyed responded that singing songs together in class was the activity that day that most made them want to participate. On this particular singing day students also had the option to play along with some rhythm instruments, such as drums and maracas. Several students commented on that aspect. One said, “The songs made me feel like participating, especially with the instruments.” Despite the three students who thought it was too early in the morning to sing, others disagreed. One student said that the singing made him feel most like participating because he “was tired and [the singing] was good to wake up to.” Several of the students simply commented that they “love to sing.” As noted 131 briefly earlier, several critical parts of the language Ieaming process may be reinforced through singing: the high degree of enjoyment for students and the consequent involvement with the language through the pronunciation of words; the recognition of new vocabulary (as cognates or from context); the visual connection between symbols and sounds; and the practice of verb forms and other grammatical features of the language. Least Participate The students that felt least like participating during the singing activities (8) made up 19% of the respondents. The comments included phrases such as, “It’s too early”, “I can’t sing”, “I don’t like to sing”, “Most of the time I don’t know what I’m singing”, and “I was tired.” Most Helpful The smallest category of responses in regard to the singing activity was for “Most Helpful,” with only five students responding on that day that they perceived the singing to be helpful to their Ieaming. One of the students believed that singing helped “to be able to use words in a new way.” Another stated clearly, “Singing in class...helped me sound out and grasp vowel and consonant sounds better with words I’m unfamiliar with.” Two students wrote ways that singing was helpful even though they characterized it as Least Helpful. One of those students wrote that singing was “helpful in Ieaming to say different words,” and another supported that by saying that “[singing] helps with pronunciation.” In addition, even though the students did not characterize it as such, the fact that students commented on the singing waking them up in the 132 morning should be considered as a feature of the activity that is helpful to student Ieaming. It should also be noted in regard to the student ratings that there was no option to choose a midrange Helpful designation for any activity. They only were prompted for Most Helpful/Least Helpful/Most Participate/Least Participate. Since these categories only acknowledge the extremes, there may have been students in the mid-range of these categories that subsequently were not recorded due to the wording of the survey instrument. More research would need to be done to determine if this was the case. Discussion of Student Responses There are several overlaps in the comments of students regarding the singing activity (see Table 20; Appendix T contains more detailed data). Not surprising is the fact that two of the students who noted singing as Most Helpful also perceived it as most inviting to participation. Four of the eight students with a mixed response for Least Helpful also commented that singing made them want to participate. There were four others who responded in both Least Helpful and Most Participate for singing, for a total of eight Least HelpquMost Participate combinations. As might be expected, of the eight students represented under Least Participate, six had also perceived the singing as the Least Helpful activity of that day. The other two had made no other comment regarding the singing activity. 133 Table 20 Singing Response Combinations by Student Code Student # Most Helpful Least Helpful Most Participate Least Participate 593 X X 783 X 001 071 126 225 300 456 579 628 X><><><><><><><>< 113 122 311 357 647 730 ><><><><><><><><><><><><><>< ><><><><><>< There are several important points to ponder regarding the data on singing. The first is the class meeting time; the second is the positive view of participation for the singing activity; the third is the disconnect between participation and helpfulness to Ieaming from the student’s perspective. 134 These two classes met the first two class hours of the day. In addition, first-year students made up 73.6% of the students in these two classes. This is significant because first-year students do not register for specific classes or hours in their first semester of college. Therefore, there were certainly students in the class that would not have chosen an early morning class.22 Since some students commented that it was too early to sing, the question should be raised, What impact did the class meeting times at an early hour of the day have on the research results? More research would need to be done to study whether the same response would come from later morning or afternoon classes. In addition, although the class sang on various days of the week throughout the semester, the day of the week that the singing data were collected was a Monday. This also may have been a factor when combining earty class with a Monday morning. Would the responses have been different on a different day of the week? Another issue was that, although they failed to see the value of the singing activity for their Ieaming (as was true for the listening activities), students showed strong support for singing as a high encouragement for involvement in oral aspects of language production. The importance of this should not be minimized since speaking is sometimes a fearful activity for students (as evidenced by several student comments mentioned earlier in chapter 4). Singing uses some of the same skills as speaking, but being a choral activity rather than an individual one encourages student participation in the activity, and minimizes 22 In an informal survey by show of hands one day in class, only two students in the 8 o’clock class acknowledged a preference for that class hour. 135 the fear associated with speaking. It also has a rhythmic nature that naturally encourages repetition. A song does not produce enjoyment because you sing it or hear it only one time. On the contrary, the enjoyment comes with familiarity. This being the case, singing encourages not only voicing the language, but repeated rehearsal of vocabulary, pronunciation, syntax and streams of speech. It takes time to Ieam a song. A third important point to ponder regarding singing is the fact that although 40% of the students chose singing as the activity that made them feel most like participating, only five students saw it as most helpful to their Ieaming. Is an activity only helpful if students perceive it as helpful? Certainly, the more value students see in an activity, the more energy will be devoted to it, but that may be true for participation as well—the more motivated students are to participate, the more energy they will expend on behalf of the activity. Do both kinds of energy translate into the same kind of Ieaming? Do students need to be taught the reasons for singing in class? Does this need to be part of class discussion? What other aspects of singing can be emphasized to draw out the value of the activity? Talking about verb forms? Singing songs with only certain verb forms? This is an area where more research could be done. Composing Composing a song was the final activity that was the focus of the class evaluations. On this day one of the 48 consenting students was absent making the number of students responding to the evaluation, 47. A summary of the responses is shown in Table 21. 136 Table 21 Responses for Composing Activity Most Least Most Helpful Least Helpful Participate Participate Number of students 16 16 (1 +/ ) 34 9 Percent of 3 4% 34% 72% 1 9% total (n = 47) Most Helpful Sixteen of the students (34%) wrote on the class evaluations that composing a song was the activity most helpful to their Ieaming that day. The reasons they gave fell into several categories, though some were not specific and others simply stated that it was fun. One student commented that “work[ing] as a team” made the activity helpful to his Ieaming. Another student echoed that sentiment by saying that the activity was helpful to Ieaming because it involved “group work with interactive Ieaming.” Nine others mentioned the importance of the practice they received through the activity. Specific references were made regarding “vocabulary and preterite verb tenses”, having to “think and think fast” and to “think really hard”, and “Ieaming to write.” One student summed it up by saying, “The song was the most helpful because it made us use our Spanish,” and another wrote, “It was a fun way to use what we have Ieamed.” This is an interesting change from responses to the other types of music activities since it was certainly also the most challenging of the three activity types. This will be 137 discussed in more depth in the summary of responses section at the end of the chapter. Least Helpful An equal number of students (16) rated the activity as Least Helpful to their Ieaming. One reported, “[We] didn’t really Ieam any language.” Another complained that there was not enough time. One student said, “I very much disliked the song [be]cause I don’t like to sing.” The student responses for the composing evaluations contained only one mixed response out of 16. That student remarked that “writing the song [was] way fun, but not really that helpful.” Even though she perceived that the composing activity was not helpful to Ieaming, this student rated the activity as making her feel most like participating. Most Participate Most astounding of all responses from the class evaluations was the number of Most Participate responses for composing. Thirty-four students out of 48 (71%) remarked that this activity made them feel most like participating. As mentioned earlier, there were fewer activities this day due to the time needed for the writing activity which might account for some difference in ratings, but students still had a choice of how to rate the activity. While eight students gave no specific reason for wanting to participate in the activity, five commented that they had enjoyed the group aspect of the activity and 22 said they wanted to participate because it was “fun.” All but two of the 16 students who rated the 138 activity Most Helpful also rated it Most Participate. Six of the 16 who rated it Least Helpful also rated it Most Participate.“3 Least Participate There were only nine students who tagged the composing activity as Least Participate. Of these nine, eight also said the activity was Least Helpful. The other student had rated it Most Helpful instead because it “got us thinking and using many things”, but felt least like participating in the activity because “[I] can’t sing.” For the others who consistently gave a negative response to the composing activity, one commented on the lack of time and the early hour and the others simply did not like it. Some of the more pointed comments were: “It was dumb and I hate singing” and “Song writing [is] not necessary. I’m in Spanish, not music!” Summary of Responses to Music Activities A summary table of the student responses for all music activities is shown in Table 22. Of the three types of music activities used in class, the listening activities received the most rankings as Least Helpful. However, although the listening activities received the highest percentage (38%) of the three activity types for Least Participate, the Most Participate percentage for listening is still slightly higher than that at 42%. 23 These findings regarding the Most Participate ratings renewed my interest in the composing activity. During the class, I remember debating about whether I would try this activity again. In my perception, the students were frustrated and had not put forth the effort for which I had hoped (though the activity had seemed quite successful the year prior). However, the post-activity responses of the students made me reconsider. Their reactions were much more positive about the activity and the group work involved than I had anticipated. This points to the critical value of obtaining regular student feedback. 139 Table 22 Responses for All Music Activities . . . Most Least Most Least Actrvrty/Rankrng Helpful Helpful Participate Participate Ayer I: Number of responses 3 19 (3+,“) 7 8 Ayer ll: Number 6‘ of responses 10 18 (2” I 9 13 3 Dia a dia: 3“; Number of 4 21 (144-) 12 10 '8 responses (I! O) .E Total number of 53 responses 17 58 (614') 23 31 (D 3 Number of students 11 31 20 18 Percentage of 23% 65% 42% 38% total (n = 48) Number of 3’ .é‘ responses 3 21 (3+/') 17 8 "6:2 .5 13 a) :8 Percentage of o o o tote] (n = 43) 70/0 49 /o 40 /o 19 /o 0’ Number of % ,é‘ responses 16 16 (114') 34 9 3.2 E ’8' Percentage of o o o o 8 total (n = 47) 34 /° 34 /° 72 /° 19 /o If we compare the participation percentages for each activity, we find that all of the music activities had a stronger positive influence on participation than negative, while at the same time they were seen as less helpful (except for 140 composing which had an equal number of responses for each Helpful category). For the listening activities, Most Participate had 42% while Least Participate had 38%. For singing, 40% fell into the Most Participate category with only 19% in Least Participate. The greatest difference, as noted earlier, is for the composing activity where 19% under Least Participate contrasts with 72% under Most Participate. Also, the composing activity was perceived by the highest percentage of students to be Most Helpful (34%). This result summary suggests that for this population, even though the music activities were not perceived as Most Helpful by the majority of the students, the activities did tend to motivate students to participate in a course where participation in the L2 is key to Ieaming. Tracking of Student Responses from the Initial Survey There were two types of responses from the initial survey of L2 background which were cross-analyzed with the data from the daily evaluations: students who had exhibited a negative attitude toward foreign language or toward outsiders (-L2), or those with a low expectancy for doing well in the class (LE). It should be noted that the number of students of concern here is small, and some data were not available due to some absences on evaluation days. A summary of these data can be found in Table 23 (see Appendix U for a more detailed table). 141 Table 23 Responses for All Music Activities for Negative L2 and Low Expectancy Number and Most Least Most Least Percent Helpful Helpful Participate Participate é’ 923339” 11 (23%) 31 (65%) 2o (42%) 18 (38%) 2‘2' 8 . Z” ”993"” L2 ("'9’ 3 (33%) 5 (58%) 5 (58%) 4 (44%) 'E 9 Low Expectancy -‘-’-’ _ 3 (38%) 4 (50%) 4 (50%) 1 (13%) -1 (n—8) All Students 0 o E‘ “1:43) 3 (7%) 21 (49%) 17(40 4) 8 (19 /o) '8 . 2:, ”993"“ L2 ("-8) 2 (25%) 3 (38%) 5 (83%) 1(13%) '5: 5 Low Expectancy ‘0 (ma) 1 (13%) 3 (38%) 3 (38%) 1 (13%) 2: All Students 0 o o 2?; (M47) 16(34/0) 18(34/:.) 3402/.) 9(19%) 0 < o fcf’ Negatwe L2 ("‘9’ 3 (33%) 2 (22%) 8 (89%) o (0%) o “l" ExpectanCy 3 (38%) 4 (50%) 8 (75%) 1(13%) 0 (n—8) Most/Least Helpful Looking at each of the response categories in comparison to the overall student responses, there are a number of interesting features to the data presented in this table. We will begin with the Most HelpquLeast Helpful 142 categories. Comparing the students that showed a negative attitude toward L2 Ieaming and those with low expectancy for success with the total group, the data indicate that a higher percentage of students from these two sub-groups rated the listening activities as Most Helpful than from the total group; the same is true for singing. This suggests that students in these two sub-groups may have found more value for L2 Ieaming in the listening and singing activities than the overall group of participants did. Under Least Helpful there are slightly lower percentages for —L2 and LE for both listening and for singing than for the total student group. This, along with the Most Helpful data just discussed, would suggest that for these two sub- groups the listening and singing activities were perceived as being of more value in L2 Ieaming than for the total student group. If that is the case, it could have important implications for pedagogical decisions in L2 classrooms in terms of increasing interest for those with low expectancy or with negative attitudes toward second language Ieaming. However, for the composing activity we see a striking difference. Though a smaller percentage of -L2 rated composing as Least Helpful compared to the total student group, a larger percentage of the LE group rated the song writing as Least Helpful. This may be understood by considering the fact that the composing activity was by far the most demanding and challenging to the students’ L2 skills of the three activity types. It may be that, due to the lack of confidence in this LE group, the challenge of the composing activity was too great. 143 It may be interesting to note that the students were cross-ability grouped for the composing activity, so students who struggle in the class were placed with those with a greater understanding of the L2. The LE students must not have experienced much support from their stronger colleagues during this activity. (This could be the case in many small group situations in which students set about to manage the task assigned in the most efficient way, which may mean the strongest students give the most input and the others give less and are perhaps left behind in the discussion.) It could also be that the challenge of the activity combined with the time limitation put too much stress on this particular group of students. Most/Least Participate Another important feature to note is that of the Participate responses from these two sub-groups. For each activity type the percentage of students giving Most Participate responses are greater for the —L2 students than for the total student group. For listening, singing, and composing, the students who most clearly indicated a negative attitude toward L2 Ieaming on the initial student survey show a higher percentage of desire to participate than the total student group. On the other hand, for the listening activities the -L2 group also had a higher percentage of Least Participate responses. It seems that the students in the -L2 group had a strong reaction, whether positive or negative, to the listening activities which is evident in the fact that all students in this sub-group are accounted for under either Most Participate or Least Participate (they could have not listed a music activity at all on the survey). 144 Discussion of Tracking Results Though caution should be taken in interpreting these data due to the small numbers in each sub-group, it is worth considering the implications of these results for L2 classrooms. For each activity type, the LE students were more likely to find the music activity Most Helpful to their Ieaming than the total student group. From their written responses on the evaluations, we find the following reasons for their Most Helpful ratings for listening and composing (there were no indications for singing): 0 Listening: “ I Ieamed new words from the song;” “Ieamed to listen;” “trying to figure out by ear which words are being said [was helpful].” 0 Composing: “it was fun;” “makes you think and think fast;” “The song was the most helpful because it made us use our Spanish. The application was good.” One would expect that students with a negative attitude toward L2 Ieaming would feel least like participating in L2 class activities. However, these results suggest that these —L2 students enjoyed participating in the music activities. For each activity the —L2 group showed a higher percentage of Most Participate responses compared to the percent from the total group. (This was also true for the LE group, except in the case of the singing activity.) All of the —L2 students marked at least one of the music activities as Most Participate and seven of them rated a music activity as Most Participate more than once. The reasons the -L2 sub-group stated under the Most Participate category are in Table 24. 145 Table 24 Negative L2 Students’ Responses to Music Activities for Most Participate Student Listening (3) Singing Composing code 126 Fun Fun Very fun 184 Made me feel like A lot of fun, I like the participating, way we sang them at especially with the once to not single a instruments group out 228 Fun 250 Fun; Because it’s a Fun and exciting song 254 It’s interactive, got me Small group interested; Because it’s upbeat 593 Fun Fun fun 71 5 Fun Fun 783 l was able to play an I made up Spanish instrument and had partners’ help so I knew I was doing it right. More confident with my work. 820 Fun The data in this table indicate that two of the —L2 students rated all of the music activity types Most Participate out of all the activities on that day. Five of them ranked two of the three music types Most Participate. Two others found that one of the activities encouraged positive participation on their part. 146 Thirteen of the positive responses from these —LZ students were simply based on the “fun” factor. They acknowledged that the one activity that made them most feel like participating (out of all the activities that were done on these days when responses were gathered) was the music activity because it was fun for them. Others gave more specific answers as to why these activities made them feel most like participating. In one case for listening, the student referred to the “upbeat” music and to the interactive nature (possibly meaning the student’s interaction with the song while listening through writing words she was able to recognize and through filling in missing words of the song). For singing, the more specific reason was being able to play an instrument along with the singing. For the composing activity, one student said, “I made up Spanish and had partners’ help so I knew I was doing it right. More confident with my work.” Here the student mentions two aspects of the activity that made him feel most like participating: the creative act of using the language for something new (“I made up Spanish”) and also the fact that he did not have to work alone, but had the help of others in the task which gave him more confidence. One other student commented on the small group nature of the composing activity. Summary and Discussion of Findings The class evaluations served to elicit student perceptions regarding which activities were most/least helpful and in which activities they felt most/least like participating, and more specifically, which music activities fit into those categories. The results from the evaluations indicate that students more often 147 rated the music activities of singing, listening, and composing as Most Participate than Least Participate, that is, the music activities encouraged positive participation on the part of the students in these classes. In regard to this finding, it is helpful to note that students could have chosen to report any activity from the class on these evaluations, since the questions were not specifically focused on music activities. Furthermore, the evaluation form specifically prompted students to choose the one activity that most/least made them feel like participating in class that day, thus, focusing on the extremes and leaving any activities that would fall into the middle ground unreported. Therefore, the fact that a higher percentage of students gave the ranking Most Participate than Least Participate for all music activities when they had a number of activities from which to choose is noteworthy and may have important implications for L2 pedagogy. In L2 Ieaming, a student’s enthusiasm for participation is key for appropriate and sufficient practice and engagement with the language. The composing activity, in addition to receiving a high ranking for Most Participate, received a stronger response under the category Most Helpful than did listening or singing. This is interesting considering that it was also the most challenging of the three activities. Perhaps the combination of the depth of challenge (creating with the L2) along with working in small groups (to make the challenge manageable) allowed students to see the value of the activity for L2 Ieaming. The fact that students saw this creative group act as helpful to Ieaming and also as positive motivation to participate has important pedagogical implications for engaging students in language tasks in the L2 classroom. 148 Considering the stronger response for Most Participate for all music activities, the difference in the responses reported for the Most Helpful and Least Helpful rankings for listening and singing prompts some discussion. The data indicate that, although students were more motivated to participate in the music activities than in the other activities for that day, they failed to see the value of singing and listening for L2 Ieaming and consequently rated them as Least Helpful more often than as Most Helpful to Ieaming. There are several considerations that should be noted here. First, (as already mentioned for Participate) the survey instrument focused on the extremes, that is Most Helpful and Least Helpful, thus eliminating from the data any responses that fell in between those extremes. This means that if students saw some benefit in a music activity, but did not place it at the extreme of Most or Least Helpful to L2 Ieaming, the activity would not be reported. A different survey instrument would be needed to elicit those responses. Second, most of the other class activities on any given day would have connected clearly to the textbook, the assignments due that day, and even the course assessments. This would give any non-music activity a clear edge in being selected by the students as Most Helpful on that day. With that in mind, it may even be remarkable that students considered a music activity as Most Helpful at all. A third consideration for the Helpful categories is the conflict over assumed non-bias. Although it would be impossible to eliminate bias from any research study, since I was collecting data from my own students, I decided that I should refrain from explaining to them how to benefit most from the singing and 149 listening activities. I wanted to minimize their response acquiescence, that is I did not want them to report what they thought I wanted to hear. An interesting question for further research would be what impact this attempt at non-bias has on students and how their view of the value of music activities would change if given such metacognitive discussion in class. For listening, the data showed a rise in Most Helpful responses on a subsequent listening to the same song. This raises the question as to whether increased familiarity with the song enabled students to gain more benefit from the listening exercise. If so, it would be important to plan several occasions for listening to the same song rather than having only one exposure. In addition, compared with the total group of students, those who showed low expectancy for success and those that indicated a negative attitude toward L2 Ieaming from the initial survey had a higher percentage of Most Helpful ratings for listening and singing and a lower percentage of Least Helpful ratings. The low expectancy group responded with a higher percentage than the total group under Most Participate for the listening activities. The negative L2 Ieamers showed a higher percentage of Most Participate for all three music activities. Thus, for this group of students those with low expectancy and those with negative attitudes toward L2 tended to react positively to the music activities both in perceived value and in participation interest. In summary, all music activities produced a stronger positive influence on participation than negative, even though they were generally seen as less helpful than other activities of that day. Based on this result, two issues need to be addressed in the L2 classroom. First, one of the most frequent comments under 150 Least Helpful was lack of relevance to the material “we need to know for the test.” As noted earlier, if the course assessments do not include material from these activities, the purposes for the activities and the strategies that students could use to benefit the most from them will have to be explained and/or discussed. Students do not seem to naturally be able to discern helpfulness to Ieaming from activities not directly related to the testing in the course. Second, if students are more eager to participate with music activities in the L2 classroom, how can these activities best be designed and utilized to provide the most effective benefit for students? How can students best strengthen and reinforce L2 skills through music activities? The statistical analysis of the motivation questionnaire in the next chapter will provide a deeper understanding of student perceptions of the music activities for participation and for Ieaming. 151 CHAPTER 6 MOTIVATIONS FOR SECOND LANGUAGE LEARNING After looking at the students’ L2 background and their perceptions of daily activities, the motivation survey provides statistical data regarding various aspects of student motivation for L2 Ieaming. There were 53 students that completed the questionnaire. Although there was no direct correlation found between the larger categories of music and value of L2, there were some significant correlations of interest between various groups of questions. This report of the results of the motivation questionnaire will begin where the data collection began, with the social context for L2 Ieaming. Social Context for L2 Learning The ten questions regarding social context centered on attitudes toward L2 Ieaming and the value of Ieaming a second language (a list of question numbers by category and corresponding mean can be found in Appendix V). Of these ten questions, there were several that asked about the importance of second language Ieaming, two of which looked at immigrants Ieaming English. L2 for Immigrants Table 25 shows the corresponding figures for this data set, including question number and wording, mean, standard deviation, and percentages for each point on the rating scale. Since both the Strongly Agree and Agree ratings are similar in nature and in intent of response, a combined percentage is also 152 Table 25 Responses Regarding Importance of L2 (in Percentages) Question Mean/SD SA A N D SD 19 I believe that a" 1.91 28.3 58.8 3.8 0.0 immigrants to the U.S. 11.3 91 should Ieam English. '741 84-9 3-8 E 23 Spanish is an important 2.04 254 50.9 3.8 1.9 31, language in North 17 'g American society. “975 77-4 5-7 E 32 My family believes that 2.70 11.3 20.8 9.4 1.9 all immigrants to the U.S. 56.6 should Ieam English. 1368 32-1 "-3 as, 22 I enjoy meeting and 1.85 28-3 50-4 1-9 0-0 w o . o o interacting wrth people 9.4 S from many cultures. '662 88.7 1.9 21 I believe that every U.S. 3.00 7.5 20.8 17.0 9.4 citizen should Ieam a 45.3 second language 7-038 23-3 25-4 24 All North Americans _ should Ieam to 3.04 9.4 18.9 39 6 22.6 9.4 I: communicate in a second 1.091 28 3 ' 32 0 :5: language. ' ' <3 25 Knowing a second 279 11.3 32.1 15.1 9.4 language should not be 32.1 necessary in this country. 7- 733 43-4 24-5 26 My family believes that 342 0,0 13,2 37 7 43,4 5,7 everyone should know a o/' second language. - 7 95 1 3.2 ° 49.1 30 My family believes it is important for me to be able 3'19 0'0 26’4 35 8 30’2 7'5 to communicate in a .921 ' N s 26.4 37.7 _, econd language. it 36 Most of my friends think 3.17 1.9 28.3 26.4 11.3 9, that Ieaming a second 1 033 32.1 8 language is important. ' 30.2 37.7 37 Some 0! the members 3.84 13.2 15.1 22.8 41.5 of my family are fluent in a 7.5 second language. 7.482 23-3 54-1 Note. n = 53 153 indicated below the percentages for Strongly Agree and for Agree; the same is true for Disagree and Strongly Disagree. This may allow for more clarity in discussion. With a mean of 1.91 on a 5-point Likert scale, 84.9% of the students agreed that all immigrants to the U.S. should Ieam English (Question [Q] 19). However, a much smaller number, only 32.1% of the students, said that their families believed likewise (M = 2.70) (Q32). The reason for this difference is unclear. Perhaps the students are farther removed from the immigrant experience than their parents and therefore find it easier to be more demanding of such groups, or they may not have been clear about how to answer this on behalf of their parents. Despite this difference, the two questions showed a positive correlation of .40 (see Table 26). The students clearly see the importance of English language for immigrants. In addition, more than three-fourths of the students (77.4%, M = 2.04) agreed that Spanish is an important language in North America and almost nine out of ten (88.7%, M = 1.85) responded that they enjoy meeting and interacting with people from many cultures. These two questions showed a significant positive correlation. However, between these two questions and the questions regarding immigrants Ieaming English no significant correlation was found. Thus, the students did not tend to either agree with all four questions or to disagree with all four. Seeing the importance of second language Ieaming for immigrants (ESL) did not imply agreement that Spanish was an important language or that they enjoyed meeting and interacting with people from other cultures. The specific data for the correlations are found in Table 26 and 154 discussed in the next section (these and all other correlation coefficients represent Pearson rstatistics). Table 26 Correlations for Value of L2 (Part I) Question 19 22 23 32 ; 135333;: tl'éa‘tgrililsl‘ri‘r‘nmigrants to the U.S. 1 .0 .05 _.20 .40.. §§$e£j£§3ryyrrglelfiflrrlgsand interacting with people .05 1.0 ‘44,, ‘01 i3" 2222;523:231 important language in North ~.20 ‘44,, 1.0 -.16 fhzehlAJYSfégligufiligalfns éifillii'fmmig'ams to '40" ‘0‘ "‘6 "0 Note. *“p < .01. Second Language for All In contrast, despite the agreement on the importance of Spanish in North America, when asked about Americans Ieaming a second language, the response was less enthusiastic. On each of two different questions the response was the same—only 28.3% of the respondents agreed or strongly agreed that North Americans or U.S. citizens should Ieam a second language (Q21, Q24). This response was consistent with the value they perceived on the part of family (026, Q30) or friends (Q36) for Ieaming a second language. Only 26.4% said that their family thought it was important that they be able to communicate in a second, language (030). In addition, almost two-thirds of the 155 survey population (64.1%) reported no family members that are fluent in a second language (Q37).24 This is a somewhat lower percentage than students reported in the initial student survey where 94% said they had no immediate family members and 81% said they had no extended family members fluent in an L2. These results tend to support the ideas presented in the literature review regarding the limited L2 fluency in today’s society. Thus, although these students indicate a strong feeling that L2 Ieaming is of value for immigrants and that Spanish is an important language in North American society, it does not follow that English-language speakers in the U.S. ought to Ieam a second language. Perhaps their social context does not dictate their need for L2 in the same way that the social context in the U.S. does for the immigrant population. The values of the correlations for these questions are shown in Table 27. Understandably, students who agreed that Ieaming a second language was important in the U.S. also indicated agreement with the value of L2 Ieaming for themselves (and likewise for those that disagreed). Similarly, a correlation was shown between Q26 and 030 regarding family beliefs about the importance of second language Ieaming. Both of these items also showed a significant positive correlation with Q37 regarding fluency of family members. It would not seem odd to suggest that there is some relationship between perceived importance for L2 by family members and their fluency in L2. Although the data 2‘ Since the term “fluency" used in this question was not defined for students, it was up to each individual’s interpretation to determine which family members might fit into that category. Therefore, some students, having a limited understanding of second language fluency, may have included family members in this response that only possess a minimal knowledge of a foreign language. It is my guess that students would be more likely to err on the side of including a family member in the “fluent" category that was not truly fluent than to leave out someone who was quite fluent. Thus, the percentage of students with no family member fluent in a second language could actually be higher than the stated 64.1%. 156 Table 27 Correlations for Value of L2 (Part ll) Question 21 24 25 26 30 36 37 21 I believe every U.S. citizen should learn a secondlanguage. 1.0 .85“ :47“ .37“ .30" .48“ -.06 24 All North Americans should Ieam to communicate in a second language. .85" 1.0 -.51** .42“ .34* .49“ .06 25 Knowing a second language should not be necessary in this country. -.47** -.51** 1.0 -.14 -.16 -.45** -.01 26 My family believes that everyone should know a secondlanguage. .37“ .42" -.14 1.0 .57“ .50" .37“ 30 My family believes it is important for me to be able to communicate in a secondlanguage. .30* .34* -.16 .57" 1.0 .43” .40" 36 Most of my friends think that Ieaming a secondlanguageis important. .48“ .49" -.45** .50" .43“ 1.0 .20 37 Some of the members of my family are fluent in a secondlanguage. -.06 .06 -.01 .37" .40" .20 1.0 Note. *p < .05. "p < .01 . show a positive correlation between family value of L2 (Q26, Q30) and personal value of L2 (Q21 , 024), and there is positive correlation between family value of 157 L2 (026, 030) and family L2 fluency (037), there was no correlation shown between personal value of L2 (021, 024) and family L2 fluency (037). Thus, the fluency or non-fluency of family members did not seem to go hand in hand with the perceived value of L2 of the students for themselves or for others. Perhaps for some students the lack of fluency in their own families in today’s society has encouraged them to hold a different view; for others it has not had an impact. And the important issue still is that the majority of these two student groups (64.1%) had no family members with L2 fluency. Specific Motivations for L2 Learning?5 Intrinsic Motivations According to Domyei (2001), intrinsic motivation or value is associated with a leamer’s interest in and enjoyment of L2 Ieaming for its own sake. When asked about intrinsic motivations for Ieaming a second language, almost 70% said it was important for them to learn the content of the course (016) (see Table 28). A much smaller number said they liked the subject matter of the course (015) (39.6%) or that they thought the class would help them in other courses (014) (32.1%). In this regard, it should be noted that there could be multiple reasons for wanting to Ieam the course material that may or may not include an actual interest in the material, not the least of which is keeping up one’s college GPA. 25 Although the focus of this study is not on the various types of motivations set forth by Domyei and others, these labels are being used for the discussion since they correspond to the design of the data collection instrument. 158 Table 28 Responses for Specific Motivations for L2 Learning (in Percentages) Question Mean/SD SA A N D SD 14 What I learn in this 3.04 1.9 30.2 22.6 7.5 class will help me in other 37.7 courses. .960 32.1 30.1 15 I like the subject matter 2'89 3'8 35'8 37.7 _ 13'2 9'4 of this course. 1.013 39.6 22.6 16 It is important to me to 2.32 15.1 54.7 9.4 3.8 Ieam the course material 17 in this class. .976 69.8 13.2 Note. n = 53 There was a significant positive correlation for those who liked the subject matter of the course (015) and those that felt it would help them in other courses (014) (p = .46) as well as with those that believed the course material to be important for them to Ieam (016) (p = .60). Thus, students who experienced enjoyment with L2 Ieaming in this course also saw value in the course content and, beyond that, acknowledged the interdisciplinary value of their L2 Ieaming. However, there was no significant relationship found between the responses regarding this course content helping in other courses and the importance of Ieaming the course material (p = .17) suggesting that those that believed the course material to be important did not necessarily also think the course content would be helpful beyond that specific course. These correlations are found in Table 29. 159 Table 29 Correlations for the Importance of the Course Material Question 14 15 16 14 What I Ieam in this class will H help me in other courses. 1'0 ~46 -17 15 I like the subject matter of 1.. u this course. -45 1-0 .60 16 It is important to me to Ieam 17 60** 1 0 the course material in this class. ' ° - Note. "p < .01. Several of the questions focused on the students’ current L2 Ieaming. Forty percent of the students reported that they enjoyed Ieaming Spanish (015, 044) and more than half of the students (56.6%) said that studying a foreign language is an important part of education (03) (see Table 30). However, over two-thirds reported that they mainly study Spanish to satisfy the college language requirement (67.9%) (04) and only 17.0% said they would take this course even if it were not a graduation requirement (09). This sheds a somewhat different light on the student responses to 016 discussed earlier where 69.8% agreed it was important to learn the course material. It seems that the desire to Ieam the course material is based more on fulfilling a college requirement than on a commitment to L2 fluency. 160 Table 30 Responses for Current L2 Study (Intrinsic Motivation) (in Percentages) Question Mean/SD SA A N D SD 3 Studying foreign 2.53 13.2 43.4 7.5 7.5 languages is an important 1 067 23,3 part of education. ' 56.6 15.0 4 I mainly study Spanish to 2.23 32.1 35,3 11,3 5] satisfy the college language 1 187 151 requirement. ' 67.9 17.0 9 I would take this class 3'72 1-9 15-1 22 30-2 30-2 even if it were not required. 1.116 17 0 ‘6 60 4 44 I really enjoy Ieaming 2’87 7-5 32-1 37 7 1 1-3 “-3 Spanish. 1.093 39 6 ° 22 6 51 I don’t like language 3'11 9-4 24-5 2 35-8 9-4 Ieaming. 1.171 34 0 0'8 45 2 Note. n.-.53 Table 31 shows significant correlations between each of these questions (negative correlations for 04 and 051 ). This indicates that students showed some degree of consistency in answering this set of questions about their own L2 Ieaming. Not surprising is the high negative correlation (-.78) between 044 and 051, two opposing questions regarding enjoyment of language Ieaming. Also expected is the negative correlation between 04 and 09 (-.69), opposing questions regarding taking L2 to fulfill the language requirement. 161 Table 31 Correlations for Current L2 Study Question 3 4 9 44 51 a" 44 ”*4 :gtwgglljdrtezke this class even if it were .50.. -.69** 1.0 .68“ 570.. 44 I really enjoy learning Spanish. .44" -.61** .68“ 1.0 -.78** 51 ldon’t like language Ieaming. -.50** .70" -.70** -.78** 1.0 Note. “p < .01. The highest positive correlation was found between 04 and 051 suggesting that students who reported that they do not like language Ieaming tended to answer that they mainly study Spanish to satisfy the language requirement. The correlations between 03 and the other four questions (either positive or negative) suggest that students who tend to see L2 as an important part of education also state that they enjoy Ieaming Spanish and that they would take the class even if not required. It would be interesting to study further what factors influence a student’s perception of the value of L2 study and also the connection between that perception of value and their enjoyment of L2 or lack thereof. Which comes first, the desire to Ieam L2 or the perception that it has value in one’s cultural context and how do the two factors interplay? 162 Instrumental Motivations The majority of the students in this population did not show evidence of an instrumental orientation toward Ieaming a foreign language (as defined by Démyei, 1990), (see Table 32). Only eight percent perceived speaking Spanish as something that would add to their social status (010). Less than one-quarter (22.7%, the highest Agree percent for this set of questions) of the students believed that building Spanish proficiency would have any financial benefits for them (06). Only 5.7% wanted to Ieam Spanish to show their ability to others (07). Seventy-nine percent expressed no interest in understanding Spanish films, videos, or music (08). Table 32 Responses for Instrumental Orientation for L2 Learning (in Percentages) Question Mean/SD SA A N D SD 6 Increasing my proficiency 3.15 3.8 18.9 22.6 9.4 in Spanish will have financial 969 45.3 benefits for me. ' 22.7 32.0 7 I want to Ieam Spanish 3.72 1.9 3.8 41.5 18.9 because it is important to 885 34.0 show my ability to others. ' 5.7 60.4 8 I am Ieaming Spanish to 3.98 0.0 9.4 50.9 28.3 understand films, videos, or 888 11.3 music. ' 9.4 79.2 10 Being able to speak 3.49 0.0 7.5 37.7 9.4 Spanish will add to my social 775 45.3 status. ' 7.5 47.1 Note. n = 53 163 While it is fairly clear that the majority of students are not in the class because they are concerned about films, videos, or movies or to show their ability to others (only 11.3% indicated they were uncertain), it is interesting to note that for several other questions, particularly 06 and 010, there seems to be a fair amount of ambivalence on the part of the students. In each case, 45.3% indicated uncertainty as to whether they agreed or disagreed with the impact of Ieaming Spanish on their social status or on their own financial gain by marking the Neutral column. This raises a couple questions. First, if forced to make a choice, into which category would they fall? Second, if students perceive minimal social status or financial gain associated with knowing a second language, how much impact does that have on their value of L2 and what might it say about the value of L2 in the larger society? Integrative Motivations Regarding integrative orientation, students did not show a strong desire to become part of a Spanish-speaking community (see Table 33). Only two students (3.8%) are interested in Ieaming Spanish to speak with relatives (027) and only five (9.4%) want to use it to communicate with friends who speak it (033). Less than one-fourth of the students said they would like to be more a part of the cultural group that speaks Spanish (020). This is significant considering Gardner’s notion of integrativeness in his model of motivation discussed in chapter 1. If it is the case that integrativeness and attitudes toward the Ieaming situation are key factors that influence one’s motivation, then it should come as no surprise that many of the students in this study would be lacking in motivation. This makes it all the more imperative to encourage 164 positive attitudes in the learning situation through research on avenues for Ieaming that encourage student participation. Table 33 Responses for Integrative Orientation (in Percentages) Question Mean/SD SA A N SD 1 Studying Spanish is important because it will 2’23 17 56'6 15 1 9'4 1'9 allow me to interact with .912 73 6 ' 11 3 people who sgak it. ' ‘ 20 I want to be more a part 3.19 1.9 20.8 35.8 3.8 of the cultural group that 878 37.7 speaks Spanish. ' 22.6 39.6 27 I am Ieaming Spanish to 4.51 1.9 1.9 28.3 64.2 be able to communicate with 823 3.8 relatives who speak it. ' 3.8 92.5 33 I am Ieaming Spanish to 4.04 0.0 9.4 49.1 32.1 be able to communicate with 898 9.4 friends who speak it. ‘ 9.4 81.2 Note. n = 53 In contrast, almost three-quarters of the students (73.6%) responded that studying Spanish is important because it will allow them to interact with people who speak it. Only 11.3% disagreed with this item. From these responses it seems as though the need for Ieaming Spanish for this population is not so much proximal as it is situational since many more responded positively to the more general reference (“interact with people who speak it”) than to the more specific references (“relatives”, “friends”, or “become part of the cultural group”). 165 Perhaps the “interact with people who speak it” allows an acceptable comfort level for the students that the deeper integration does not. Comparing Motivation Responses How does this compare to earlier statements about motivation to Ieam L2? The 73.6% agreeing that studying Spanish is important because it allows one to interact with those who speak the language (01) is interesting considering the results from several other related questions concerning motivation for language Ieaming (see Table 34). Compare that result with only 56.6% of students who agree with the broader question (03) that studying Spanish is an important part of education (Questions 1 and 3 show a positive correlation of .43“). Perhaps the specific practical application stated in Q1 encouraged students to perceive value in a way that 03 did not. It is also possible that the reference in 03 regarding “important part of education” drew the connection to being a requirement to which some students reacted negatively. Furthermore, there seems to be a gap between the responses for both 01 and 022 compared with 011 (also in Table 33). While 73.6% agree that studying Spanish is important for interacting with Spanish speakers (01), and almost 90% indicate an interest in interacting with people from other cultures (88.7%, 022), only 37.7% of the students responding to the questionnaire report that they enjoy using Spanish outside of class (011). (The only significant correlation for these three questions is between 01 and 011, which is discussed in the next section.) 166 Table 34 Responses for Various Motivation Questions (in Percentages) Question Mean/SD SA A N D SD :1 Studying Spanishis . 2.23 17 56.6 94 1.9 Important because It Will 15 1 allow me to interact with .912 ' people who speak it. 73-5 1 1-3 3 Studying foreign languages 2.53 13.2 43.4 7.5 7.5 is an important part of 1 067 28.3 education. ' 56.6 1 5.0 4 I mainly study Spanish to 2.23 32.1 35.8 11.3 5.7 satisfy the college language 1 187 15.1 requirement. ' 67.9 17.0 11 I enjoy using Spanish 2.94 3.8 34.0 28.3 3.8 outside class whenever I 969 30.2 have a chance. ' 37.7 32.1 16 It is important to me to 2.32 15.1 54.7 9.4 3.8 Ieam the course material in 976 17 this class. ’ 69.8 13.2 22 I enjoy meeting and 1.85 28.3 60.4 1.9 0.0 interacting with people from 662 9.4 many cultures. ' 88.7 1.9 25 Knowing a second 2.79 11.3 32.1 15.1 9.4 language should not be 1 133 32.1 necessary in this country. ' 43.4 24.5 Note. n = 53 This discrepancy could be due to several factors. Perhaps the interaction in 022 is assumed by students to be within U.S. boundaries in an English- speaking context in which the people from other cultures communicate in English, thus making them more open to such ‘cross-cultural’ interaction (assuming that they remain safely in the comfort of their own culture for this 167 interaction). However, this would not account for the high frequency of agreement with 01. The difference in verb tense used in questions 1 and 11 could be a factor. The wording of 01, “will allow me to interact” may have signaled the interaction at some future time (which was perhaps less threatening), whereas the present tense “enjoy meeting and interacting” used in 011 may have indicated interaction taking place currently. Question 11 also includes the phrase “whenever I have a chance” which could be understood to indicate an eagerness and an intentionality on the part of the students. Students may have been uncomfortable agreeing with that idea since they may be more likely to talk to someone in a chance encounter than to seek out cross-cultural opportunities. Thus, the contrasting results for 01 and Q11 might indicate the high level of anxiety felt by new language Ieamers when trying to communicate in a second language. Affective Influences on L2 Learning Comfort in Speaking The students’ responses to questions about their comfort level speaking in class are interesting to note here. Despite the desire expressed for developing the ability to interact with people that speak Spanish in question 1, almost half of the students (47.2%) said that they feel uncomfortable speaking in class (041) and 62.2% responded that they worry about making mistakes when speaking Spanish in class (062). This seems to correspond with the lack of enthusiasm for using Spanish outside of class (011) already mentioned. 168 The Pearson correlations for these questions are found in Table 35. The positive correlation between 01 and 011 suggests that students who are eager to interact with people who speak Spanish may look for opportunities outside of class in which to use their L2 skills. The negative correlation between 041 and 01 would suggest that students who are open to interacting with Spanish speakers may not exhibit as much fear of speaking in class (there is no indication as to which factor influences the other). Furthermore, the strong negative correlation between 041 and 062 would indicate that some of the nervousness reported in 041 may stem in part from the fear of making mistakes in front of one’s peers (or perhaps the instructor). There is, however, no correlation shown between 011 and either 041 or 062. Apparently, students who agreed with 011 (“enjoy using Spanish outside class”) were not consistently the same students who worry (or do not worry) about making mistakes orally in front of class nor the same as those that feel nervous speaking in class. Expectancy for Success Expectancy for success in the class was covered by three of the items in the questionnaire. The item with the highest mean (2.04) asked about the students’ perception of their ability to do well in the class (045). Seventy percent of the students showed worry over their success in the class. Only nine students (17%) did not. Students were also uncertain about being able to master the skills in the class (072). More than half of the students (58.5%) were either undecided or believed that they could not master the skills taught in the class. Thirty-four students (64.2%) believed they would not receive an excellent grade in the course (069). 169 Table 35 Correlations for Comfort in Speaking Question 1 1 1 41 62 1 Studying Spanish is important because it will allow me to interact with 1.0 .36“ -.28* .17 people who speak it. 11 I enjoy using Spanish outside class whenever I have a chance. '36 1-0 =01 '-04 41 Speaking Spanish in class makes _ , - _ H me feel nervous. 28 -01 1-0 .74 62 I don t worry about making mistakes .17 -.04 ‘74“ 1.0 when speaking in front of this class. Note. *p < .05. ”p < .01 . The Pearson correlations for these questions are shown in Table 36. These three questions show a significant correlation to each other, indicating that those who worried about doing well in the class did not believe that they could master the skills or get a good grade. Others were confident in their ability to master the course material and were not worried about doing well. As noted earlier, the response percentages for the frequencies indicate that, for this population, the majority of the students lean toward a low expectancy for success in the class. No correlation was found between 045 (worried about ability to do well in this class) and Q16 (importance of Ieaming course material). Thus, those who agreed that the course material was important were not consistently the same students that thought they could do well in the class, nor consistent with those that did not think they could do well. 170 Table 36 Correlations for Expectancy Question 45 69 72 45 I am worried about my ability to do well in this class. 1.0 -.70 -.46 69 I believe I will receive an excellent grade in this class. -.70 1.0 .55 72 I’m certain that I can master the skills being taught in this class. '-46 ~55 1.0 Note. *p < .05. "p < .01. In the same vein, only nine of the students (17.3%) indicated agreement with the statement that they were very good at language learning; thirty-two students (61.5%) disagreed with the statement. Pronunciation seemed to cause the least concern, with the survey results indicating 63.5% who believe that they can imitate the sounds of Spanish very well. Vocabulary and grammar seemed to pose more of a threat with only 30.2% confident in guessing the meaning of new words and only 25% confident in grammar?6 Table 37 shows the results of the Pearson correlations for these questions. These data show a positive correlation between 067, 076, and 078 which suggests that students who thought they were good at grammar tended to also believe that they were good language Ieamers and that they could guess the meaning of vocabulary words very well. The item concerning the imitation of 2" Whether student perceptions of their capabilities are simply a reflection of what is tested or whether there are other grounds for these perceptions is an interesting question. It could be that since grammar is tested more than pronunciation, students perceive grammar to be more of a challenge. Do they truly have such good pronunciation or do they perceive that to be the case because of very little actual testing of pronunciation? 171 the L2 sounds (074) showed a positive correlation with guessing the meaning of vocabulary words, but did not correlate with being good at grammar, nor with being a good language learner. This may suggest that some students perceive a connection between the imitation of L2 sounds and guessing the meaning of new vocabulary words, but not between the imitation of L2 sounds with being good at grammar or with being very good at L2 Ieaming. Table 37 Correlations for Language Aptitude Question 67 74 76 78 67 I am good at grammar. 1 .26 .53" .28* 74 I can imitate the sounds of this language . very well. .26 1 .15 .30 76 In general, I am an exceptionally good 53,... 15 1 22 language learner. 78 I can guess the meanings of new vocabulary words very well. '28 ~30 22 1 Note. *p < .05. "p < .01 . L2 Anxiety Not surprisingly, some students indicated a certain level of anxiety about the course. More than sixty percent (62.2%) of the students worry about making mistakes when speaking in front of the class (062). On a separate question, 47.2% reported feeling uncomfortable when speaking in the class (052). Twenty-three students (43.4%) said they felt more tense and nervous in this 172 class than they did in their other classes (Q48); 19 students (35.8%) did not. Twenty-eight students (52.8%) marked that singing in class made them feel more comfortable as opposed to nine (17%) who said it did not (046). Table 38 shows the Pearson correlations for these results. Interestingly, although there are positive correlations between students that feel more tense in this class with three of the other questions in this group, the item concerning singing correlates with none of them. These data suggest that the 53% of students that reported that singing makes them feel more comfortable in class are not strongly situated either in the camp of those that are more tense and nervous in this class or with those who are not. Table 38 Correlations for Anxiety Question 46 48 52 53 62 46 Singing in class makes me feel more comfortable. .02 .09 .07 -.19 48 I feel more tense and nervous in this class than I do in my other classes. .02 .50“ -.47** -.56** 52 I feel uncomfortable when l have to speak in this class. .09 .50“ -.10 -.66** 53 I rarely have difficulty concentrating in this class. .07 -.47** -.10 .20 62 I don’t worry about making mistakes when speaking Spanish in front of this class. -.19 -.56** -.66** .20 Note. “*p < .01. 173 Motivational Strength The motivational strength of students was measured by several questions. A strong majority of students (45 of 53 students, or 84.9%) said it was important for them to do their best in the class (017). Though there were seven that were neutral, there was only one student that marked Disagree. Just less than half (49.1%) said they could put forth their best effort into Ieaming Spanish (079) and over half (52.8%) said they work hard in the class even when they do not like what they are doing (049). When course work is difficult, only 15.1% said they either give up or only study the easy parts (083); over half (52.8%) said they do not do so. On the other hand, twenty-five students (47.2%) admitted to often feeling lazy or bored when studying for the class (047), while twelve (22.6%) disagreed with the statement. Slightly more than a third of the students (37.7%) said they always finish their work, even if it seems dull and uninteresting (054). Table 39 shows the Pearson correlations for the questions on motivational strength. The significant positive and negative correlations between these items show a tendency for students who want to do their best in the class (017) to also work hard even when course work is unpleasant (049), to always finish work (054), to put forth the best effort (Q79), and not to give up when the work is difficult (083). The item concerning feeling bored or lazy when doing work for the class (047) showed no significant correlation to the other items. Therefore, a student may feel lazy or bored when doing work for the class despite other indications of motivational strength or a lack thereof. The strongest correlations were found with the item concerning putting forth one’s best effort for the class (079). This item showed a significant positive correlation with four other items: 174 important to do my best (017), work hard even when unpleasant (049), always finish work (054), and do not give up when difficult (083). Table 39 Correlation Coefficients for Motivational Strength Question 17 47 49 54 79 83 17 It is important to me to do my best in this class. 1.0 -.19 .30* .35* .48“r -.30* 47 I often feel lazy or bored when I study for this class. -.19 1.0 .08 -.26 -.17 -.26 49 I work hard in this class even when I don’t like what we are doing. .30“ .08 1.0 .23 .50“ -.27* 54 Even when the class materials are dull and uninteresting, I always finish my work. .35* -.26 .23 1.0 .43" -.31* 79 I can truly put my best effort into Ieaming Spanish. .48“ -.17 .50“ .43" 1.0 -.43" 83 When course work is difficult, I either give up or only study the easy pans. -.30* -.26 -.27* -.31* -.43** 1.0 Note. *p < .05. "p < .01. Cooperativeness/Community There was fairly strong agreement with two items on cooperativeness. Thirty-four of 53 students (64.2%) acknowledged that their relationships with the 175 other students in the class were important to them (029). There were seven (13.2%) for whom that was not true. Slightly higher was the number of students who felt they Ieam best in a cooperative environment (035). Thirty-six students (67.9%) agreed with the statement, while only six (11.3%) disagreed. Considering some of the other items centering on community, there was a fairly even split between students who said they knew more names of fellow students in this class than in their other classes (43.4%) and those who did not (41.5%) (038). Similarly, there were 17 students (32.1%) that felt close to the other students in the class (039) and 17 (32.1%) who did not. In regard to singing songs together, 40% of the students believed that this activity brought the class closer as a group (031), while 30% did not (another 30% were neutral). Thirty- six percent (19 students) believed that singing songs of faith made them feel united with others in the class (040); 38% were neutral and 26% disagreed. The correlation data for these questions show a positive correlation between knowing the names of fellow classmates (Q38) and feeling close to them (039) (see Table 40). The negative correlation between 029 and Q39 suggests that students that value their relationships with others in the class tend to also feel closer to others in the class and vice versa. Likewise, the positive correlation between 029 and 040 implies that the students that value the in- class relationships also tend to see singing songs of faith as a unifying factor in the class. Though singing in general shows a strong positive correlation with the item regarding singing songs of faith (.79), it is singing songs of faith that shows a significant positive correlation with the importance of relationships in the class. The positive correlation between 031 and 040 gives a sense that students who 176 v - view singing in class as an activity that draws them closer as a class tend to view singing songs of faith in a similar way. Table 40 Correlations for Community Question 29 31 35 38 39 40 29 My relationship with other students in this class is important 1.0 .26 .12 -.17 -.28* .32* to me. 31 Singing together in class brings the class closer as a .26 1.0 .03 .21 -.23 .79“ group. 35 l Ieam best in a cooperative environment. .12 .03 1.0 .27 -.11 .00 38 I know more names of fellow students in this class than I do in -.17 .21 .27 1.0 -.43** .15 my other classes. 39 I don’t feel like I’m very close ,, ,, to other students in this class. "28 "23 "11 "43 1'0 "24 40 Singing songs of faith in Spanish makes me feel united .32“ .79“ .00 .15 -.24 1.0 with others in the class. Note. ‘p < .05. “*p < .01. Music Attitudes Students responded to 11 items on the questionnaire that centered on attitudes of students toward music activities. For analysis and discussion, these music-related questions are divided into music attitudes, types of songs, singing vs. speaking, group cohesion, and what is referred to as “din" (or the “song-stuck- 177 in-my-head’ phenomena). A summary of student responses for music activities is shown in Table 41. Music Activities Though short of ovenNhelming, the students gave solid support to the use of singing as a class activity. Three of the questions (018, 042, and Q63) inquired in general about enjoyment of the singing activities used in class. For each of these questions a majority of the students responded that singing made the class or the Spanish language more enjoyable. Those that disagreed with these three questions accounted for only 11.3 — 18.8% of the students in the study. When asked if singing in class was a waste of time (061), 60.4% of the respondents disagreed. Over half of the students (56.6%) agreed that singing in class was a valuable class activity (056). Regarding the effects of singing on the affective aspects of L2 Ieaming, more than half of the students (52.8%) agreed that singing in class raised their comfort level (046). On the other side, only 7.5% agreed that singing made them anxious in class (050). The responses to these two questions should be seen in contrast to the response for 041 regarding affective responses to speaking Spanish in the class where 47.2% agreed that they feel nervous in class when speaking Spanish. This is discussed later in this chapter. For the other music-related questions, 47.1% of the students enjoyed having the opportunity to choose the songs in class (055), while 43.4% were unsure and 9.5% disagreed. For listening activities there were 24 students (46.1%) that liked the class more when we listened to Hispanic music (066). The activity of composing words to a familiar tune was the focus of two 178 Table 41 Responses for Music Activities (in Percentages) Question Mean/SD SA A N D SD 18 Singing songs in class 2.38 24.5 37.7 9.4 7.5 makes me enjoy the 1 180 20.8 Spanish language more. ‘ 62.2 16.9 42 I enjoy this class more 2'45 20-8 39-6 20 8 ”-3 7-5 When we sing. I. 170 60.4 ' 18.8 46 Singing in class makes 2'60 9-4 43-4 30 2 “-3 5-7 me feel more comfortable. 1.007 52.8 ' 17 50 I feel anxious when we 3’72 0-0 7-5 24 5 56-6 11-3 sing in Spanish in class. .769 7.5 ' 67.9 55 I like being able to 2.60 7.5 39.6 3.8 5.7 choose the songs that we 906 43.4 sing in class. ’ 47.1 9.5 56 Singing in class is a 2-62 7'5 49'1 24 5 “'3 7'5 valuable class activity. 1.042 56.6 ' 13.3 61 Singing in Spanish 3.57 7.5 5.7 43.4 17.0 seems to me a waste of 1 083 26.4 class time. ' 13.2 60.4 63 Singing Spanish songs 2.38 17.0 47.2 3.8 7.5 in class makes this class 1 060 24.5 more enjoyable. ' 64.2 11.3 66 I like this class more 2.77 3.8 42.3 15.4 5.8 when we listen to Hispanic 962 32.7 music. ' 46.1 21.2 81 I enjoy making up words 3-55 3'8 “'3 20 8 43'4 20'8 to familiar tunes in class. 1055 15.1 ' 54.2 82 Writing words to familiar 2.85 7.5 32.1 32.1 0.0 tunes is too difficult at this 969 28.3 level. ' 39.6 32.1 Note. n = 53 179 questions (081, 082). More than one-third of the students (39.6%) felt the activity was too difficult, but another third disagreed. On the other composing question, only eight students (15.1%) said they enjoyed making up words to a song in Spanish. In contrast, there were 34 of 53 students (64.2%) that disagreed. This is interesting considering the high level of appreciation for the activity on the in-class evaluations for that day. This will be discussed in the chapter summary. Types of Songs Since there may have been certain aspects of the songs used in the class that prompted a more favorable response, five of the questions centered on the variations in the types of songs that were utilized: songs with Latino rhythm (043), songs of faith (057), songs of culture (058), songs with familiar tunes (Q64), and songs that are new (065) (see Table 42). The bulk of the responses fell into the agree categories for all of the questions and each of these questions received a higher percentage of neutral ratings than disagree. This indicates a lack of strong disagreement on the part of the students with any of these items (except for, perhaps, the question regarding singing songs with new tunes which received 28.3% of disagree responses). Since these questions were phrased with intensifying adverbs such as “I really like...” or “I especially enjoy...,” it would seem that students uncertain or disagreeing might have responded more strongly to counteract the enthusiasm of the question. However, from the small percentages for Disagree, this does not seem to be the case. At least the wording of these questions would have given them that opportunity. 180 Table 42 Responses for Song Types (in Percentages) Question Mean/SD SA A N D SD 43 I especially enjoy listening 2.49 17.0 41.5 13.2 5.7 to songs in class that have a 1 103 22.2 “Latino” beat. ' 58.5 18.9 57 I especially enjoy singing 2'38 15'1 43°4 35 8 0'0 5'7 the songs of faith. .945 58.5 ' 5.7 58 I especially enjoy singing 2'58 7'5 41'5 41 5 3'8 5'7 the songs of culture. .908 49.0 ' 9.5 64 I really like singing songs 2‘09 22'6 56.6 15 1 0'0 5'7 that have familiar tunes. .946 79.2 ' 5.7 65 I really like Ieaming songs 2'92 5'7 30'2 35 8 225 5'7 that are new. .997 35.9 ' 28.3 Note. n = 53 In comparing the types of songs, almost sixty percent (58.5%) of the students liked listening to songs with Latino rhythms and the same number liked singing songs of faith. There were only 18.9% and 5.7% (respectively) that disagreed with those items. Singing songs of culture did not have quite as strong of a response with 49.1% of the students that said they enjoyed that activity. Of the five questions on song type, the one regarding songs of culture had the highest frequency for neutral responses (41.5%). This could be a reflection of less familiarity with singing songs of culture in the class due to fewer exposures. On the questions about familiar/unfamiliar tunes (064, 065), 79.2% of the students responded positively for songs with familiar tunes (M: 2.09) and 181 a much smaller percentage (35.8%) enjoyed songs that were new (M=2.92). There was also a difference in the frequency of disagree responses for these two items. Only 5.7% did not like singing songs with familiar tunes, but 28.3% said they did not like Ieaming songs that are new. It could be that familiar tunes increase the comfort level in an already anxious environment or that students are better able to focus on singing the words of the song when they do not also have to Ieam a new tune. Another possible explanation stems from the nature of the enjoyment of music. The pleasure of singing or listening comes not from singing or hearing a song one time, but from becoming acquainted with the song. Therefore, a familiar tune could bring more pleasure than a new one, especially when the song is in a new language. The results of a Pearson correlation on these five questions (043, 058, 057, 064, 065) compared with one other on crossing cultures (022) indicate that none of the questions regarding types of songs showed any correlation with the question regarding interacting with other cultures (see Table 43). This means that students did not tend to answer Q22 similarly to any of the questions regarding types of music. Therefore, it does not appear from these results that a person who liked listening to Hispanic music and/or singing Spanish songs agreed with those items because they saw that as a cross-cultural interaction. This is curious since music in many ways arises out of a culture and could provide an entrance into the culture for some students. However, it could be that since 022 referred directly to interaction with people, that students did not view that the same as appreciating products of the culture, or at least they did not 182 seem to view the music activities in the class as a possible bridge to interaction with people from other cultures. Table 43 Correlations for Crossing Cultures and Song Types Question 22 43 58 57 64 65 22 I enjoy meeting and interacting with people from many cultures. 0.08 -0.01 -0.03 -.069 0.25 43 I especially enjoy listening to songs in class that have a “Latino” beat. 0.08 .50“ .43” .51" .45” 58 I especially enjoy singing songs of culture. -0.01 .50“ .84“ .76" .69“ 57 I especially enjoy singing the songs of faith. -0.03 .43“r .84“ .84" .64" 64 I really like singing songs that have familiar tunes. -.069 .51" .76" .84“ .62" 65 I really like Ieaming songs that are new. 0.25 .45" .69“ .64“ .62“ Note. *“p < .01. Despite this, the other items all showed significant positive correlations. Students who enjoyed listening to Latino rhythms (Q43) tended to also like singing songs of faith (057), songs of culture (058), songs with familiar tunes, and songs that are new (065) and vice versa. This consistency of response on the part of the students suggests that there was a tendency to enjoy all of the various song types or to dislike them all. 183 Singing vs. Speaking Affective responses to oral activities (speaking or singing) were the focus of four of the questions on the motivation questionnaire. On two similar questions (041 and 052) almost half of the students (47.2% on both) responded that they felt uncomfortable when speaking Spanish in class. In contrast, 67.9% reported that they did not feel anxious when we sang in Spanish (050) and 52.8% said that singing in class made them feel more comfortable (046). There were only four students (7.5%) that said singing makes them anxious and only nine (17%) that did not feel more comfortable when singing in class. The Pearson correlations for these questions show that although there is a positive correlation for 046 with 050 (singing), and for 041 with 052 (speaking), neither of the speaking-related questions correlate with the singing- related questions (see Table 44). This would suggest that, for this population, students who responded that they are uncomfortable speaking in the L2 are not necessarily the same students who do or do not find comfort in singing in class. This is important to note since both activities are oral in nature and could serve to strengthen some of the same skills. For some students singing may serve to help relieve some of the anxiety produced by oral activities and encourage oral expression at the same time. Benefits from Music Activities Just as the students’ perceptions about the pleasure (or lack thereof) of music activities is important, so too is the students’ perception about the value of music activities for L2 Ieaming. There were 32 students (60.4%) that reported that they did not see singing in Spanish to be a waste of class time (061) 184 Table 44 Correlations for Affective Responses Question 41 46 50 52 3615456933359. Spanish in class makes me 1 .19 .04 .74“ :2 "5:23:13 eIn class makes me feel more .19 1 _.35* .09 (5:12 ésfeel anxious when we sing in Spanish in .04 -135, 1 .04 2362115: ugigogggable when I have to '74,, .09 .04 1 Note. *p < .05. "p < .01. compared with seven students (13.2%) that thought it was a waste. One-fourth of the students gave neutral responses. When the item was worded positively, only 10 students (18.8%) disagreed that singing was a valuable class activity (056), whereas 30 students (56.6%) perceived it as valuable. The Pearson correlation for these two questions is -.795, (p < .01), meaning that students tended to either agree with both or disagree with both, as would be expected. On two different items students responded similarly regarding the value of singing for improving pronunciation or speaking ability. Twenty-five students (48.1%) answered that singing helped them improve their Spanish pronunciation (Q 68) as opposed to only 13 (25%) who said it did not (26.9% remained neutral on this item). Similarly, 23 students (43.4%) believed that singing was helpful for improving speaking ability (073), while only 14 (26.4%) did not (30.2% remained neutral). There was a positive correlation of .62 between these two questions, 185 (p< .01, see Table 45). This correlation suggests that students who believed singing was helpful in improving pronunciation in the L2 very likely also thought that singing aided speaking ability. Or they perceived singing as helpful for neither one. Table 45 Correlations for L2 Skills and Music Question 68 70 73 75 77 4 4 44 ., 4 77... 4 Note. “*p < .01. Students also responded to questions regarding the value of music activities for other language skills such as listening and grammar. More than 50% perceived singing as helpful to building their listening skills. Twenty-eight students (52.8%) agreed with the statement while only nine students (16.9%) disagreed. According to the Pearson correlations, there was a significant positive correlation between the question regarding the building of listening skills 186 through singing (Q77) and the two others discussed above, the one concerning - pronunciation (068) and the other on speaking ability (073) (also in Table 44). The weakest response concerning L2 skills was seen in the questionnaire items concerning grammar (070, 075). Only four students (7.6%) saw singing as leading to improved grammar skills in contrast to 32 (60.4%) that did not believe they Ieamed grammar through singing (M = 3.68). Very similar to this response is the response to the other question about Ieaming grammar from listening to songs in class (075). Only three students (5.7%) thought they Ieamed grammar from listening to songs compared to 32 students (60.3%) that perceived listening as not helpful for improving grammar skills (M = 3.64). The results from the Pearson correlation indicate that students were consistent in their answers to both questions (significant positive correlation of 0.55) (see Table 44). There is also a positive correlation between 070 (Ieaming grammar from singing) and the items regarding pronunciation (Q68), improving speaking ability (Q73), and improving listening ability (077). Question 75 (Ieaming grammar from listening) correlates positively with only 070 (the other grammar item) and 073 (improving speaking ability). These data indicate some tendency on the part of the students to view most of these as helpful or none. Despite the fact that most of the music-related questions showed strong correlations with the majority of the other 24 music items, 075 (Ieam grammar from listening) only showed a correlation with three of the other music questions: 061 (singing is waste of time), 070 (Ieam grammar from singing), and Q73 (singing improves speaking). It seems that students that saw value in the other 187 music activities did not consistently answer that they could or could not Ieam grammar from listening. One caution in interpreting these data would be to consider the specific wording of the items. For the other three questions, the focus is on improvement of L2 skills; however, for the grammar questions, the word “learned” was used. Perhaps students view Ieaming as the initial explanation step and view practicing or improving the L2 skills as a secondary step. Thus, the explanation or Ieaming could not come through singing or listening to songs. Further research could be done rephrasing the grammar questions using “practicing” or “improving” L2 skills instead of “Ieaming.” Group Cohesion There were four questions regarding group cohesion in the questionnaire. Two of the items were generic in nature, one asking about knowing names of students in class (038) and the other regarding not feeling close to other students in the class (039). For 039 (not feeling close, M = 2.91) the responses fell almost into thirds with 32.1% saying they did not feel close to other students, 35.8 remaining neutral, and 32.1% disagreeing with the item. The responses for 038 (knowing names of students in the class) indicated that 43.4% of the students agreed that they knew more names in this class than other classes. There were only 15.1% in the neutral category and 41.5% disagreed (M = 2.98). Again, despite the lower percentage in the neutral category, the Agree and Disagree categories show quite an even split in responses. These two items showed a negative correlation of .433. (p < .01) which would not seem surprising due to the nature of the items. Thus, although there was a higher percentage of 188 students that said they knew names than said they did not feel close to students in the class, the balanced responses in this data set suggests that there was not a strong sense among these students that group cohesion in this class was different than in their other classes. Two other questions about group cohesion centered on the use of singing in the classroom (031, 040). In response to the item about singing songs of faith (040), 35.8% of the students said it made them feel united with others in the class. There were more than that that remained neutral (37.7%) but fewer (26.4%) disagreed. On the other question (031), there was a slightly stronger Agree response (39.6%) when asked if singing together brings the class closer as a group. Again, the neutral category limited the strength of the response at either end by gaining 30.2% of the responses. Another 30.2% disagreed with the item. These two items showed a positive Pearson correlation of .793 (p < .01). (No correlation was shown between the two types of questions under the topic group cohesion.) Though 40% of this student group indicated that they sensed a connection between singing together and group cohesion, these results fail to present strong evidence for a connection. One issue to consider here is the format of the questionnaire which allowed students to choose a neutral response (this issue is also discussed elsewhere in this paper). If students had only been given the choice to agree or disagree, where would the other one-third of the responses have fallen? 189 Din Despite the Iow-to-moderate response frequencies regarding the use of songs for improving discrete skills, there was a stronger feeling that songs tend to remain in one’s mind after singing. Students responded to two similar items regarding this aspect of music in the classroom. They were asked whether or not the words of the songs play back in their head after singing in class (071) and whether or not they remember specific words or phrases from the songs we had sung in class (080). To the first question, though 12 students (22.7%) had not experienced the playback, 30 students (56.6%) reported that they had. With similar frequencies, though 13 students (24.6%) reported not remembering words or phrases from songs, there were 32 (60.4%) that did. It is possible that this playback or imprint of words and phrases from the songs could serve to practice and reinforce vocabulary, verb forms, grammatical structures, and syntax, even though students may be unaware of this potential benefit. It cannot be determined from these data whether students saw value because they noticed the playback or whether they noticed the playback because they perceived singing to be of value. There is no way of knowing from the data how often the playback occurred, though the wording of the item included “sometimes" which would probably indicate that for students that agreed with the item, this was not a one- time occurrence. It is also possible that some students who experienced the playback did not report it because they did not remember it, since playback by nature is a subconscious activity. Determining the frequency of playback or how to heighten the recall of playback would require further research. 190 The data presented in Table 46 show the correlation values for these questions with several others. These results indicate a strong positive correlation between 080 and 071, which should not be surprising since the questions were designed to touch on the same issue. In addition, both of these din questions (080 and 071) show a positive correlation with 056 regarding singing as a valuable class activity. Both showed a negative correlation with 061 regarding music as a waste of class time. These data would support the notion that those students who noticed the song playback were also students who saw value in using music in the L2 classroom or vice versa. Table 46 Correlations for Din with Music Value and L2 Enjoyment Question 80 71 56 61 44 59 80 Sometimes I remember specific words or phrases from 1 .56“ .65“ -.59** -.13 .07 songs we sing in class. 71 Sometimes after we sing in class, the words play back in my .56" 1 .31 * -.35* -.00 .04 head. 56 Singing in Spanish is a ,, ,, _ ,, _ valuable class activity. '65 ‘31 1 '80 '01 '20 61 Singing in Spanish seems to _ ,, _ ,, - ,, _ me a waste of class time. '59 '35 '80 1 '08 '05 44 I really enjoy Ieaming Spanish. -.13 -.00 -.01 .08 1 .73" 59 My language class is a .07 .04 .20 -.05 .73.. 1 challenge that I enjoy. Note. *p < .05. “p < .01. 191 In both cases the strength of the correlation was greater for 080 than for 071, which could be due to the slightly more obscure wording for 071 (“words play back in my head” as opposed to “I remember specific words or phrases”). Neither 080 nor 071 showed any significant correlation with 044 and 059, regarding enjoying the challenge of Ieaming Spanish. Thus, students who experienced the din and saw value in singing did not consistently report enjoyment or lack of enjoyment of L2 Ieaming. In other words, they were not generally the same students as those that enjoyed Ieaming Spanish, nor were they the same group of students that responded that they did not enjoy Ieaming Spanish. There are likely students in both camps (enjoy/not enjoy) that experience the playback and that see value in singing. In looking more closely at the correlations with the Din questions (see Appendix W for the detailed data), there were a total of 24 items that showed some type of correlation with either 071 or Q 80 or both. Of these, all but six showed a positive correlation. Twenty of the 24 correlations pertained directly to music activities. Three of the negative correlations were not questions pertaining to music activities. Seventeen questions showed a significant correlation (positive or negative) with 071 (10 are significant, at p < .01) and 22 showed a significant correlation with 080 (19 of them are significant)”. These data indicate that there may be a connection for students that hear the playback in their heads after singing songs in class with enjoyment of the music activities. In fact the highest positive correlation between any of these 27 The appendix includes the correlations between 071 and 080 in the list, but since these questions were intended to elicit similar responses, they are not counted in the total number of items that showed any correlation with 071 or with 080. 192 questions comes from 080 with 063, “Singing Spanish songs in class makes this class more enjoyable,” with a positive correlation of .68 (p < .01.). This suggests that students who do not enjoy the class more when there are music activities such as singing may be less likely to experience the playback, or Din, while those who enjoy the music activities may be more likely to experience it, or at least to remember the experience. One of the significant negative correlations for the Din questions was with 048, “I feel more tense and nervous in this class than I do in my other classes” (see Table 47). Question 50 showed a similar correlation with both Din questions. Therefore, students that feel less tense or nervous in Spanish class may be more likely to report experiencing the Din than those who are more tense or nervous. Perhaps the nervousness affects the way the brain interacts with the music activities as might be expected from the affective filter. Two of the other questions that did not pertain directly to music (016 and 049) showed a negative correlation with one of the Din questions (080). Though it would seem logical that a student who does not see the value in Ieaming the course material may also lack in diligence when it comes to work that sIhe does not like doing, the Pearson coefficients showed no significant correlation between these two questions. Nevertheless, they both showed a significant negative correlation to the Din question, suggesting that a student who does not see the importance of the course material or a student that does not work hard unless the work is pleasurable may tend to report experiencing the Din. This curious result could perhaps be due in part to a reaction to a pleasurable stimulus in a context in which the student lacks motivation. 193 Table 47 Items Showing Negative Correlations with DIN Items 80 Sometimes I remember specific words or phrases from the songs we sing in class. 71 Sometimes after we Question sing in class, the words play back in my head. 16 It is important to me to Ieam the course material -.28* in this class. 48 I feel more tense and nervous in this class than -.36** I do in my other classes. 49 I work hard in this class even when I don’t -.32* like what we are doing. 50 I feel anxious when we sing in Spanish in -.32* -.34* class. 61 Singing in Spanish seems to me a waste of -.35* -.59** class time. 82 Writing words to familiar tunes is too -.36** -.39** difficult at this level. Note. *p < .05. "p < .01. Enjoyment of Music Activities Further insight may be gained from the frequencies for enjoyment of music activities, enjoyment of the language, and L2 value (see Table 48). When comparing several of these questions, the results show that, although only 39.6% of the students reported that they liked the subject matter of the course (015) and that they enjoyed Ieaming Spanish (044), and slightly fewer said that 194 Table 48 Responses for Enjoyment and Value of L2 (in Percentages) Question Mean/SD SA A N D SD 15 I like the subject matter of 2'89 3'8 35'8 27 7 13'2 9’4 this course. 1.013 39 6 ' 22 6 18 Singing songs in class 2.38 24.5 37.7 9.4 7.5 makes me enjoy the Spanish 1 180 20.8 language more. ' 62.3 16.9 42 I enjoy this class more 2'45 20'8 39'6 29 8 “’3 7'5 when we sing. 1.170 60 4 ' 18 8 Spanish. 1.093 39 6 ' 22 6 Ieaming. 1.171 34 9 ' 45 2 56 Singing in Spanish is a 2'62 7'5 49'1 24 5 “'3 7'5 valuable class activity. 1.042 56 6 ' 18 8 59 My language class is a 3.09 3.8 26.4 35 8 24.5 9.4 challenge that I enjoy. 1.024 39 2 ' 93 9 63 Singing Spanish songs in 2.38 17.0 47.2 3.8 7.5 class makes this class more 1 060 24.5 enjoyable. ' 64.2 1 1.3 79 1 can truly put my best 2.60 7.5 41.5 35 8 13.2 1.9 effort into Ieaming Spanish. .884 49 1 ° 15 1 Note. n = 53 language class was a class that they enjoy (059, 30.2%), a higher percentage agreed with the enjoyment of music questions. There were 56.6% that marked 195 that singing was a valuable class activity (056), and 60.4% that enjoyed the class more when we sang (042); 62.3% that said singing songs in class made them enjoy the Spanish language more (018) and 64.2% that reported the class was more enjoyable when we sang in Spanish (063). Thus, more students responded in favor of the singing activities than they did for language Ieaming in general. The correlations for the questions regarding enjoyment of music activities, enjoyment of the language, and L2 value are available in Table 49. It is evident from these results that many of the questions that were intended to target similar data in fact did so, with significant positive correlations between the four questions regarding enjoyment of singing. There are similar positive correlations between the four questions focusing on enjoyment of L2 Ieaming. However, there is a puzzling but significant negative correlation for 079, “I can truly put forth my best effort into Ieaming Spanish,” with two of the questions regarding enjoyment of singing Spanish songs (018 and 063) with a correlation of -.31 and -.29, respectively. These results suggest that students who responded that they could apply their best effort to Ieaming the language tended not to enjoy singing Spanish songs; those that did not feel they could put forth their best effort in the class were more likely to enjoy the singing in class. Could it be that the students that wanted to put forth their best effort, or in other words, apply themselves to their Ieaming, were perhaps more tense about the class in general or perhaps wanted to maximize the use of class time with what they saw as helpful to their Ieaming and did not feel that singing was helpful? On the other side of the issue (as 196 .5. v q: .5. v a. .302 ._._m_cmam 3 .8: mm. mm..- ..8.- om. :8.- .5.- 2. 5558. 25 5% 88. >5 :5 >3: :8 _ 2 5m.- 3 5. :3. 2. m7 :2. :E. 8. 8me 8% 5 wwmmwflmwmuumcwmfiwwmwm. mm. 5. o; om. :5.- ..R. 8. o F. :55. _ as 88:2... m. 2 8% 885cm. >8fim 8.. :E. om. o; 5. 5.. :5». .. 5. 8. 88.5 2828 m m_ 828m 5 osmwmemm :8.- o F. :5.- 5. o; :8.- 2. mo. :5.- 855: .5558. mmaamwwwuwflmmfim cm. 8.. ..fi. 5.- :8.- 3 m 7 8.. ..mm. 588 5558. 5% 2.8. _ 3 :8.- ..8. mo. :8. t. 2.. 3 :8. 8. .5% m; :2; 22: 85.5 25 >28. _ we . 5.- :8. 2. : 5. mo. 5.- :8. 5.. 8. is as 8%.“.mfimflawfiwumfiwmwwgu 2. oo. :8. 2. :5.- ..ms. 8. S. 5.. .858 as 6 .285 8.38 ms 9.: _ 8 2 8 8 8 5 3 m4 8 2 8:830 o:_m> new EmE>oEm .8 225.250 9. mBmh 197 mentioned earlier regarding correlations with Din questions), it may be that students who felt they were unable to put forth their best effort into Ieaming the L2 were attracted to the singing. It is not clear whether or not these students then applied more effort towards participation. That could be the focus of future research. At the end of the motivation questionnaire, students were given the opportunity to list up to three aspects of the class that they most or least enjoyed in two separate open-ended questions. From the data collected there were seventeen separate codes designated for the Most Enjoy question. The highest individual item of these coded responses came for group work/partner work/class interaction which was mentioned a total of 32 times. The next highest was singing in class, with 31 responses. Listening to songs was listed 13 times and a more general reference to music in class occurred four times. If added together, these music references total 48 responses, the highest of all the individual categories. Of these responses, 24 students (45.3%) listed a music activity first in their list, 17 (33.3%) listed a music activity second in their list, and seven (17.1%) listed it third of the aspects of the class that they most enjoyed.28 On the other side, there were a total of 12 responses listing music in the aspects of the class that they least enjoyed. Five of these referred to singing, five to listening and two were general references to music activities. Only eight students (15.7%) listed a music activity first in their list and there were four 28 The total number of students responding favorably for all music activities would not necessarily equal 48 (total number of responses) since a student may have listed more than one type of music activity given that they were asked for three Most Enjoy activities. The same would hold true for the Least Enjoy responses. 198 (8.3%) that listed a music activity second. There were no students that listed a music activity third, though there were 36 students who did list a third aspect. In comparing the Most Enjoy to the Least Enjoy, there were 48 total responses in favor of various music activities in contrast with one-quarter of that number in contrary responses. In addition 24 students listed a music activity first for Most Enjoy and only eight listed music first for Least Enjoy. These data clearly indicate a positive response for the enjoyment of the music activities in class. Summary of Findings The motivation questionnaire sheds light on a variety of key issues in language Ieaming: the students’ perceptions of the value of L2, their motivations for Ieaming L2, and their view of the value and the effects of music activities related to L2 Ieaming. The data on students’ view of L2 value show what could be termed a qualified endorsement. There was definite support in favor of immigrants Ieaming English (L2) and also a favorable response to Spanish being an important language in the U.S. However, students did not agree that all U.S. citizens should Ieam a second language and a majority of the students reported a lack of L2 fluency in their immediate and extended families. This discrepancy may be clearer by looking at one interesting contrast between the data from the motivation questionnaire and the initial student survey. In the initial survey, the majority of the students (65%) reported that they saw value in Ieaming a second language and/or wanted to Ieam one. Though 199 this seems quite positive, the results of the motivation survey were strikingly different. On the questionnaire item “I would take this class even if it were not required” only 17.0% agreed with the statement and 60.4% disagreed. On the question “I mainly study Spanish to satisfy the college language requirement,” 67.9% of the respondents agreed and only 17.0% disagreed. Again it seems that although students may have a favorable attitude toward L2 Ieaming in general, they are not quite so keen on the idea for themselves personally. Despite this lack of commitment to L2 value, students cited various motivations for L2 Ieaming. As noted above, the majority of students were taking the course because of college requirements. Due to this fact, a majority responded that the course material was important and that it was important to do their best in the class. Most students thought that they Ieamed best in a cooperative environment and a strong majority (73.6%) indicated a desire to interact with people who speak Spanish. However, there were several areas of weaker response in regard to motivation for L2 Ieaming. The majority of students responding to the questionnaire showed little instrumental orientation for L2 Ieaming (social status, financial gain, show ability to others, or understand films, movies, or music). In direct contrast to the strong desire to interact with people who speak Spanish, only 37.7% said they enjoy using Spanish outside of class. A majority tended to feel uncomfortable in class and to worry about making mistakes in class. They did not view themselves as good at language Ieaming and they did not show a strong expectancy for success in the class. 200 In regard to music activities used in the class, a majority of students said that singing was a valuable class activity and not a waste of time. A majority responded that music activities make the class and the Spanish language more enjoyable and made them feel more comfortable in class. When listing Most Enjoy activities, there were 48 total responses relating to music activities (as opposed to 12 music references under Least Enjoy). They tended to prefer familiar songs over new tunes. A majority believed that singing helped improve their listening skills. They also reported experiencing playback or remembering words or phrases from songs outside of class time. Two correlation findings of interest were noted. A negative correlation was indicated between the Din and two other items: importance of course material and working hard even when work is not pleasant. This suggests that some students who do not consider the course material to be important or do not work hard unless work is pleasurable tended to report experiencing the Din. Perhaps the pleasure of the singing or listening captured their interest in a way that made the songs stick with them even after the class hour was finished. Another negative correlation was found between an item regarding putting forth one’s best effort in Spanish class with two items about enjoyment of singing in Spanish. This implies that students who could not put forth a strong effort into Ieaming Spanish may have tended to enjoy the singing. In both of these negative correlation findings, students indicating low personal motivational strength in L2 seemed to acknowledge a positive reaction to music activities. On the other hand, in regards to L2 skills, just under half of the students believed that singing helped their skills of pronunciation or speaking. The 201 weakest response was in seeing a connection between the music activities and grammar Ieaming. There is an interesting contrast that should be noted between the frequencies for response regarding listening activities gathered from the daily evaluations compared to the responses on the motivation questionnaire. Although on the daily evaluations there was a slightly higher number of responses for the listening as Least Participate than for Most Participate (31:28), the motivation questionnaire data offered a different view. When asked in the questionnaire whether they enjoyed listening to songs with Latino beat, the majority of students agreed with the item. There could have been other factors at work on the participation level on the specific day of the class evaluations that allowed students a slightly different response when asked in general about listening to music. It could also be that there were other activities in the class that day in which the students felt more like participating (especially since the survey form asked only for the extremes, Most or Least). Another discrepancy was noted between the daily evaluations for the composing activity and the student responses on the motivation questionnaire. Whereas in the daily evaluations, an overwhelming majority of students rated the activity as Most Participate, the questions on the motivation questionnaire yielded a different view. More than one-third of the students in the study (39.6%) felt composing words to a familiar tune was too difficult. Perhaps in this question (due to the way it was worded) students responded according to the difficulty of the task rather than out of their enjoyment of it. On another composing question, only 15.1% said they enjoyed making up words to a song in Spanish. In 202 contrast, there were 34 of 53 students (64.2%) that disagreed. It could be that, again due to the way the item was worded, they thought the question referred to an individual composing activity since group work was not stated in the question. Could that be what made the difference? These data also showed one significant correlation of interest between the importance of relationships in the class and singing songs of faith. This would not be a surprising correlation since singing tends to draw a group together. However, there was no correlation between the same item and singing songs of culture. Therefore, students tended to respond similarly to the importance of relationships and singing songs of faith. One factor that may have influenced this result is the lesser frequency of singing songs of culture allowing students less chance for recall of this experience. However, it could also be that the passion that is often associated with one’s faith is translated here to the feeling of group togetherness and cohesion, thus accounting for the tendency for students that place importance on the relationships in class to also sense unity in a faith expression. There was no correlation found between being nervous speaking in class and finding comfort singing which, in light of the focus of the study, may be interesting to note. Thus, the students who experienced stress related to speaking in class did not tend to answer positively or to answer negatively regarding being more comfortable in class with singing. Considering the fact that both speaking and singing involve oral expression, it would have been interesting to find that those who are nervous speaking are more comfortable with another form of oral expression, which could then serve to bridge the gap between the 203 two. However, this was not the case. Instead, from the lack of a negative correlation, it does follow that for some of the students feeling nervous about speaking this may be true, but not as a general rule. The frequency and correlation data from the motivation questionnaire inspire several questions that would require further research. These questions will be addressed in the final chapter. 204 CHAPTER 7 INDIVIDUAL STUDENT PERCEPTIONS ON LANGUAGE LEARNING AND MUSIC The previous chapter dealt with the frequencies and correlations regarding L2 value, motivations for L2 Ieaming, and perceptions of the value of music activities for L2 Ieaming. The focus of this chapter is, How do individual students perceive their L2 background and the use of music activities in the class as an aid to L2 Ieaming. Four students participated in interviews: students 1 (St) and 2 (82) are male students; students 3 (S3) and 5 (SS)29 are female students. The questions of the interview covered several topics: the L2 background of the students, their motivation for L2 Ieaming, their enjoyment and willingness to participate in various class activities, and their perceptions of the helpfulness of music activities for their Ieaming. The analysis begins with a look at the students’ perceptions of their L2 background. L2 Learning Background Beginning L2 Instruction Of these four students the earliest foreign language instruction occurred during the middle school years. Student I started in eighth grade and then retook the same level in ninth grade because of lack of confidence in the ability 29 There were originally five students chosen for the interviews. Because consent was not properly obtained, one student was dropped from the analysis. 205 to go to the next level. Student 3 began with French in middle school, but was unable to continue part way through the semester due to problems with the teacher and then started with Spanish in her ninth grade year. The other students started L2 study in high school, 32 as a freshman and 85 as a junior. Two students (82 and 53) considered Spanish to be easy initially, while S1 said he only took two years in high school because, in his words, “Why keep doing something that I didn’t really like to do?” Student 5 admitted that she struggled with L2 Ieaming even in high school. When asked with which aspect of language they struggled most in high school, the answers included “too many verb forms,” accents, and oral skills of speaking and listening. One student said, I understand a lot more than I can, like, speak to someone, like, if someone talks to me I can understand what they tell me but I don't know how to respond because I don't know how to formulate the sentences, so that's where I would run stuck; I understand what they say, but I don't know how to talk back. On the opposite end, when asked about the aspects that they enjoyed, two of the four students remarked that they had enjoyed playing games in Spanish class. One student could not think of anything that he had enjoyed. Initial Attitudes toward L2 Learning The initial attitudes of the students when they began their foreign language study varied. Student 3 enjoyed the class which instilled a positive attitude in her that made her want to Ieam more. Having a teacher who was really “passionate and excited about it” made a difference to S2 when he began. 206 However, the initial attitudes of the other two students were not as positive. Student 1 remarked, “I guess I didn’t think I would use it much....lt was kind of like a requirement that I had to fulfill and then I could just forget about it.” Though SS was intrigued by the prospect of being able to communicate in another language, her attitude was influenced by those around her. She noted the negative attitudes of her peers toward L2 Ieaming: It was harder in high school because it wasn’t cool to know another language, like, no one cared, so it was hard to be motivated when all your peers were like, ”This is dumb. Why should we Ieam this?” Even 32 who began enthusiastically noted the effect of negative peers on his attitude. He said, Well, a bunch of the seniors that were in my class were kind of down on it....They were just taking it because they had to [in order] to get into college, so they, like, didn't really want to be there....That was my freshman year....By the end of my sophomore year I was pretty ready to be done. It is interesting to note that, although information regarding peer attitudes and influence was not elicited, two of the four students commented on the effect that the negative attitudes of their peers had on their own attitude toward L2 Ieaming. This finding lends support to the view regarding the strong influence of the monolingual culture in which these students live. L2 Difficulties Although at first mention all four students stated they had no fears about L2 Ieaming in their early experience, upon pursuing the topic a bit deeper there 207 were a number of skills that caused some fear. Student 5 explained that listening to an L2 is difficult for her because it goes so fast and...l Ieam better seeing the words,...you kind of pick up certain words and certain sounds, but if someone talks and I had, like, a transcript of what they're saying, I could pick up probably 90% of what they're telling me, but when they say it, and you don't have anything to look at, your brain is trying to figure out all these words, and by the time you get, like, the first sentence, they're halfway through their conversation, so that was hard. For 81 writing was difficult due to the confusion of accent marks. He also mentioned aspects of speaking, as did two others (S3 and SS). S1 said that speaking is difficult because students do not practice much in the classroom. Student 3 explained that speaking in an L2 is so much different than speaking in L1 because I don't know if I am saying the right things or using things correctly, or if I am making any sense, or pronouncing things, I mean, there is all these things you need to think about when you're speaking, at least when you're writing, you can look at it, but when you're speaking you have to think, oh, my gosh, did my verb just flow? Or did my, did I just use the right adjective? Did I conjugate it right? When you're speaking, there is a lot of things to think about. Thus, writing, speaking, and listening all caused some initial concern for these students. 208 ln S5’s view, one’s age at beginning L2 and the length of time it takes to Ieam a language play an important role in the difficulty of expressing ideas in the L2. Just not knowing it and having to Ieam it from square one, like, you Ieam it from no knowledge at all. It's just hard to Ieam, it's, like, you're in high school and you're starting to Ieam a language, like a two-year-old would speak, and that was hard because it's like you can speak English at an advanced level, but not when you try and speak Spanish, all that comes out is like the first grade level....lt's just hard because it takes so long, it's not like you can just Ieam a language in a year and say, “Well, I speak it fluently now.” It took me nineteen years so far to Ieam English, and it takes a longer time to Ieam another language. For these four students, L2 Ieaming began in middle school at the earliest, elicited both positive and negative attitudes early on, and posed difficulties in writing, speaking, and listening, especially (according to 85) due to starting later in life. Motivations for Second Language Learning The motivations for L2 Ieaming showed some commonalities, including school requirement, grade point average, utilitarian reasons, and several other external factors. Three of the students (only 82 did not) stated that the L2 requirement in high school and/or in college was the fundamental reason for taking a Spanish class. Student 1 made the comment that he just wanted to “get 209 it done as soon as possible.” Another motivational factor, connected to the first one, for three of the four was grade point average. Only S5 did not mention grades as a factor in motivation in L2 Ieaming. Perhaps the reason for this was low initiative stemming from the lack of success in L2 as shown in this comment by 85: It's not like I don't want to Ieam it, I still want to, I probably always will. It’s just hard. You don't want to sit there and spin your wheels for a couple of years to Ieam something that maybe you can't Ieam, you know. (emphasis added) At another point in the interview, in fact, she makes reference to her lack of initiative in the class, [Foreign language is] not the easiest thing for me, and I'm just, I'm happy with what I do, what I get by with, but it's not something I want to keep struggling with. It comes easy for some people, and it comes hard for sbme other people, and it’s kind of not worth my time to sit there and struggle with it forever, you know. Student 5 shows a curious combination of general interest in L2 for the purpose of communicating with Spanish-speakers with an almost total lack of initiative due to frustration with the process of L2 Ieaming. Utilitarian Motivations Some noted utilitarian reasons for L2 Ieaming. Student 2 indicated that a recent trip to Mexico on a volunteer mission project had increased his interest in Ieaming the language. He said that he needed help in order to talk with people while working on the project. 210 I had to [speak] through a girl from my high school. She was like really, really good at Spanish, so I kept asking her questions, so it would be nice if I didn't have to [ask for help] all the time. St says that Spanish is probably the best language to Ieam if you are going to live in the United States just because of Mexico right there and a lot of people are coming up. He also says he would like to travel to Mexico or Spain which could indicate a need for Ieaming Spanish. However, like SS, S1 had some contradictory comments regarding the usefulness of knowing an L2. Early in the interview he stated that in high school he did not see any need to take a foreign language: I guess I didn't think I would use it much....lt was kind of like a requirement that I had to fulfill and then I could just forget about it, but, I don’t know, I kind of like to speak Spanish. Though there is a slight interest in or intrigue with communicating in another language, the perceived need for Spanish language skills is not very strong. Student 3 sees a benefit of Ieaming the language for use in her profession someday, but acknowledges that she is taking it because of a requirement, not because she saw the need. She says, I am sure that if I Ieam a foreign language, it would open more opportunities in any job field that I choose, and me being, going into the law field, I'm pretty sure that [Spanish] would be a strong thing to have, but it's like, at this point, like I said, like I feel like I 211 started too late, and I wish I would have known sooner that I would have had to take it. Other Influences on Second Language Learning All of the students experienced various other external influences on motivation level for L2 Ieaming. Student 5 (as noted earlier) said her attitude was influenced negatively by her high school peers. Another experienced just the opposite in college. Student 2’s motivation for Ieaming L2 increased due to the attitude of others in the class. He said, I thought that everybody in the class was sort of more into it than in high school so I thought that helped too, like everyone in the class had a more positive attitude about it. When asked what he would attribute that to he added, “Probably the way you came into class everyday....At 9 am. it was kind of tough but we always did something cool.” Another student (S3) remarked about the influence of peers in a different sense. It was not their attitude toward the language or their motivation or lack thereof; she was motivated according to how others were doing in the class because she did not want to be behind in the class. In her words, I mean my motivation is increased more when the class as a whole is doing better, and I feel like I'm not doing as well as my classmates, maybe, I think, that affects my motivation as well, because I don't want to be behind, I don't want to be the worst person in the class. 212 One student mentioned that adults had influenced him in pursuing an L2. 82 said his dad told him to take Spanish because it would be more useful in life. Student 3 also noted the teacher’s role in motivating students. She said that in high school she liked Spanish and in the same breath remarked about how she liked the teacher and the fun things they did: I really liked Spanish. Me and my Spanish teacher got along really well. We did a lot of outside activities, like we went to different Spanish restaurants, and she was a real nice lady. Students 2 and 3 noted the negative effect of the early hour on their enthusiasm for the class. Student 2’s comment about the 9:00 am. hour affecting his motivation appeared above. Student 3 found the early class also a challenge to her motivational level. She said, “You're very enthusiastic in the morning and I think I needed that 'cause, had you been dead, I would have been deadtoof As this section indicates, motivation for L2 Ieaming for the students interviewed was influenced by various factors, including grades, peers, teachers, and values. The next section looks at student perceptions of one external factor: the use of music in the L2 classroom. Value of Music for Second Language Learning Students were involved in three different types of music activities during the semester: singing, listening to recorded songs, and composing words to a familiar tune. For the students interviewed, how do these uses of music affect motivation or willingness to participate and how might students perceive music 213 as helpful in L2 Ieaming? Students had a variety of responses to both issues. We look first at their perceptions regarding the effect of music activities on attitude and motivation. Motivation to Participate Early in the interview I asked a general question about which class activities made students most feel like participating. This was followed later by a similar question, though this time referring specifically to music activities. I asked the more general question to see if and when the music activities would be mentioned by students even if the students were not specifically prompted to think about them. When asked in general about class activities in which they most felt like participating, these four students placed on opposite ends of a continuum regarding music activities. Two of them (82 and S3) mentioned singing because it was “fun” or “lightened the atmosphere.” In contrast, the other two made reference to a music activity when asked about the class activity in which they least felt like participating. Student 1 and S5 held the view that the music activities of singing or listening took precious time away from the more important aspects of the class: grammar, vocabulary, or “the stuff that would be on the test.” However, Student 1 later clarified that he did not mind the singing and that the listening “probably helped [him] in the long run.” Despite the seemingly negative response on the part of two of the students regarding music activities when not prompted to consider them, when asked directly about the effects of music on attitude toward or motivation for L2 Ieaming, three of the students made positive comments regarding the use of 214 music activities in the classroom. Student 2 commented that he enjoyed the music activities because of the atmosphere they brought to the class. He said, “I think it helped my attitude just because, like I said before, it kind of relaxes you....lt was always something that was kind of, like, fun for me.” Another student (S3) related a similar perception of the effect of music on attitude in class: I wasn't always optimistic going into Spanish class, because it is difficult for me, so I think a lot of the times I probably came in the Spanish class with some sort of pessimism, and I think that just starting off by singing, I mean, you can't help but get into a good mood when you're singing and you're laughing and you're playing an instrument, you can't help but, you know, not be mad anymore. You kind of have to let your guard down, and then it's like, ok, I'm in Spanish class, Ican do this, you know, so, especially it being so early in the morning. (emphasis added) Later in the interview she added: When I would come to the class sometimes, I'd be kind of pessimistic, but after singing or listening to the song I didn't feel so bad, you know...| absolutely love music, so...to incorporate it into something that I'm not so confident with was helpful. For this student, music activities used in the classroom had served not only to boost her attitude, but also impacted her level of confidence in the ability to cope with some of the frustration she was experiencing from her lack of success in the class. 215 Student 1 also believed some of the music activities helped him with willingness to engage in class activities. He stated, When you had the instruments out and everything, that kind of, I don't know, lightened the mood a little, not that the mood wasn't light, just kind of felt,...[it] might have produced a better Ieaming environment in some way just because people are happier and are more likely to participate. (emphasis added) Here St suggests a connection between the use of music (more specifically singing) with the formation of a better Ieaming environment due to the resulting more relaxed atmosphere in the class. The singing activities in the class involved both familiar tunes and unfamiliar tunes as well as faith-based songs and non-faith-based (“culture”) songs. The interviewed students did not voice any difference between their enjoyment of, or their motivation to participate in, singing songs of faith as opposed to songs of culture. As one student expressed (82), “Both reveal something about their culture.” Despite her interest in both types of songs, Student 3 noticed a difference in the memorability of the faith-based songs. She remarked: “I don't think there was any difference [in motivation to participate]; I think I remembered the songs of faith more, but I don't think that I like the cultural songs any less” (emphasis added). No reason was given for remembering the songs of faith more. Perhaps it was due to familiarity, to frequency, to connections to prior Ieaming, or to an emotional connection made in the brain. Nor did students see any difference in their motivation to participate with songs with familiar tunes as opposed to songs with unfamiliar tunes. Although 216 one student (SS) said flatly that there was no difference at all (this was the student that did not enjoy the music activities because they took time away from “more important” practice), the other three students expressed a common theme that, though they did not like one more than the other, the songs with familiar tunes were easier to sing and more enjoyable. Student 3 gave her reasoning like this: I think songs with familiar tunes were easier to participate with, not necessarily that I wanted to more, I just think that they were easier to participate with, only because you know the tune, you can kind of figure it out, what the person is saying, and how to sing the words because you know the tune. For this student, the familiar songs were easier to sing and to understand. Another music activity that made Student 3 feel more like participating was the composing activity. In her comments regarding the song writing, she speaks specifically to the social element of the activity since they worked in small groups (which were assigned): The one thing that stands out in my mind was the Christmas song that we made, that was fun....l think it was fun because we were trying to come up with some ingenious creative idea, and the people in my group...they were the people I liked the most in the class. It seems that both the creative nature of the activity and the group-work factor entered in to the desire to participate. 217 Support for Second Language Skills While willingness to participate clearly enters into a student’s Ieaming in the classroom, the student’s perception of the value of class activities also bears an important role. This section highlights the students’ responses to two questions regarding class activities and their helpfulness to L2 Ieaming, one general question and one specific to music activities. One of the students (S3) noted the importance of singing for building confidence and willingness to voice the language. She claimed that the various music activities “made me a little more confident in saying Spanish, maybe not necessarily one-on-one with someone, but maybe a little bit more confident in speaking it.” This is important since a lack of confidence may inhibit a student’s interest in participating in oral activities. Student 2 noted that singing “made me speak the language which is always a good thing 'cause people don't get very much practice at that.” However, SS disagreed, “I don’t think singing in Spanish will get you far with Ieaming the language, because you don’t sing your language, you talk your language.” For her, singing took time away from other more valuable class activities. She commented, “I’d rather spend those ten minutes of singing reviewing the grammar or the vocab we Ieamed the day before....lt didn’t seem like it reinforced anything.” On the other hand, near the end of the interview SS recalled Ieaming songs in high school: “In high school we Ieamed preterite through songs...and that stuck with me....That’s how I remember preterite....l don’t mind doing those, ‘cause those helped me.” Apparently, SS could see the value of a song as a memory trigger that was intended to provide specific 218 grammatical practice, but did not transfer that value to songs containing more than one grammatical feature. Perhaps as a struggling student, she needed more specific attention focused on a single grammatical feature. Closely linked to the positive comments about speaking were those concerning pronunciation. All three of the students who addressed this question believed that one or more of the music activities helped them with Ieaming pronunciation (SS did not). Student 1 expressed a connection between singing and pronunciation like this: Singing was probably the most helpful because I would find myself trying to sound out the words...when I heard you say them....l thought a lot about how certain words were said....l think it helped reinforce the sound that it made ‘cause if I came to that [sound] again in another word, then I would have somewhat of an idea how to say it. Thus, the singing activities aided this student in sound-symbol correspondence which could help in pronunciation and in reading. Student 3 also saw a connection between singing the words with the class and the reinforcement for the sounds in the language. She said, “When you're singing it in class, or whatever, everybody sounds kind of like you do, so you're like, ‘OK, I'm on the right track, at least I sound like I'm singing in Spanish.” At one point she elaborated, When we did things like the songs, that helped with my pronunciation of a lot of words, even the Christmas caroling we did, like when we got back to class, I think it was on Monday, and we 219 sang the Christmas carols there, I noticed that I could sing them faster, and I could sing them better than the other people standing next to me,...and we did it that night,...some of [the songs] we were really bad on, so our leader was sticking to just a certain amount of songs, so when we sang them on Monday, my pronunciation was sounding just like yours, as opposed to before,...so I think the songs helped. Here she notes not only the help that singing provided with pronunciation, but also suggests that she had improved in the rate of sounding the words, or fluency. Similar to S1 ’5 comment about singing reinforcing the sound of the L2, 83 saw the listening activities as helpful in Ieaming to coordinate sounds and symbols for Ieaming to write in the target language. She said, because when you listen to something [and try to fill in the missing words], you might not [be able to] write down what you think you hear, but at least if you try to write anything that sounds close, you'd be surprised how many times you're actually right, and that way you're knowing your sounds and things like that, so I thought that was helpful. In regards to Ieaming or reinforcing grammar through music activities, although St remarked that music activities didn’t really help Ieam verb forms because “we didn't really look for them in the songs,” 83 found the songs helpful for grammar understanding. She said, 220 I think it helped with the grammar....lf I was trying to write a sentence I would think back to what, to how maybe it was said in a song, like Gloria Estefan, if I'm trying to say “I love you,” I feel like, wait a minute, how does she say it, or “my heart is [_]” or something like that....Like even in the ser and the estar part, sometimes I would think to what they said before, how they used es before something or did they use estar before something, I would think back to that, so I think that that's how it helped me in the grammar. Student 2 felt the writing of the song was helpful: “I think the writing of songs was pretty helpful because you had to, like, think everything up from scratch.” While this could be true of many writing activities whether or not music was involved, the fact that this student perceived the composing activity to be a helpful challenge could make a difference in the amount of attention and energy expended on the task, which in turn could impact the Ieaming of the L2. In addition to the pronunciation and grammar support perceived by St and 83, $2 perceived the music activities to encourage listening comprehension skills. He said that the listening parts “really helped with...picking out words that you knew and trying to figure out what the sentence was.”30 Student 5 also commented on the listening activities: I did [like the listening activities]. It helped me because it forces you to think, and forces you to fine tune comprehending, but it was 3° Due to the nature of the listening activities during which students had to fill in the missing words to the song in a cloze activity, this comment could apply also to reading comprehension, but the connection is not made specifically in the student’s comment. 221 also hard because it's hard to focus that long on a foreign language....lt’s hard to keep that long of an attention span. Building Community In addition to looking at building L2 skills, three of the interview questions asked in general about the building of social connections: Which class activities made you feel most connected to the group? Which class activities helped to build a sense of community in the classroom? Which class activities helped to build a bridge to the target culture? There were no specific references to music activities in the questions themselves. Of these questions only the second (community building in the classroom) elicited a response involving music activities from two students. Student 1 thought that singing with instruments worked to build community in the classroom. He said, Singing with the instruments probably [helped to build community]...‘cause you have certain people that will play and then the other people that wouldn’t necessarily play, they start playing because they see everybody else just kind of like going along with it....l guess it was kind of funny too, so that lightened the mood. The singing had an impact also for S3. She mentioned three different music activities that helped build community among the students: Christmas caroling (outside-of-class activity), writing the song (and trying to sing it), and singing at the beginning of class. She said, the Christmas caroling, that was fun, and making the song together, and then, you know, everybody trying to sing it. . .that was fun, and singing the songs together in the beginning of class. 222 The reasons that she offered for this view centered on various aspects of the Christmas caroling (being cold, meeting new people) and the faith-based activities at the beginning of the class time (including singing): “It's nice that in Spanish class we're still giving glory to God.” Summary of Findings Since the number of students interviewed was small, it would be impossible to make any sweeping generalizations regarding the use of music for L2 Ieaming. However, these four students did acknowledge various fears regarding L2 Ieaming; they recognized various motivations for L2 Ieaming; and they perceived value in music activities for motivation, for L2 skills, and for community. The students that interviewed for the study cited several common fears or difficulties with L2 skills, including the difficulty of listening due to its non-visual nature; the complexities of writing accurately in L2; and the challenge of retrieving and organizing knowledge in order to speak. One student noted the infrequency of oral practice as a problem. Another insight mentioned was the frustration of being in college and only being able to speak in childish-level Spanish along with the length of time that it takes to Ieam a second language. Among the motivations recognized by students were college L2 requirement, keeping up one’s GPA, communication with speakers of the language, and using the L2 for future job placements. In addition, students were influenced in their motivation to Ieam an L2 by the encouragement of significant adults, the enjoyment of a teacher and/or class activities, the positive attitude of 223 peers toward L2 Ieaming, and grade competition with peers. Some of the negative influences cited by students were the early hour of the class, the influence of peers who saw little value in Ieaming an L2, and the improbability of success in Ieaming the L2. Some of the students perceived value in the music activities for building class community. The factors that contributed to this were students joining together in singing and playing instruments, meeting new people, working together as a group to accomplish the composing task, and the faith-based focus of some of the singing in class. These students noted several ways that music activities could affect one’s motivation to participate in L2 Ieaming: lightening the atmosphere in a class that naturally produces anxiety; building confidence in coping with the stresses of L2 Ieaming; encouraging participation; providing a creative outlet for language production (as in the composing activitY); and building community in the classroom. Finally, the students that were interviewed perceived value in the music activities for building specific L2 skills. The singing activities provided practice in pronunciation and helped develop fluency (speed) in the language. The listening activities increased understanding of sound-symbol coordination and listening comprehension (though one student found it hard to focus that long). In singing and listening some students recognized support for grammatical structures they were Ieaming. The composing activity gave students an opportunity to produce the L2 creatively in a type of comprehensive review. One aspect of the music activities that may have produced a negative reaction was the fact that there was 224 no clear connection between the music activities and the material which they had to master and on which they would be tested. 225 CHAPTER 8 DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSIONS La mejor salsa del mundo es el hambref” --Sancho Panza en Don Quixote Student motivation is one of the critical keys to second language Ieaming. Motivation by nature is situational and contextual. It is not a stagnant entity that one either possesses or does not. It fluctuates, not only according to situation and context, but also according to numerous internal forces that influence each individual in a variety of ways. This research study has attempted to uncover one aspect of the myStery of student motivation in L2 Ieaming: the connection to music. In the final chapter I will review the pertinent findings of this study relative to the major research questions regarding student motivation and context, contemplate their significance, and raise several issues that are related to these findings. 32 Social Context for Second Language Learning Limited exposure to long-term cross-lingual experiences and/or to . extended second language study characterizes the social context for the 3‘ “The best sauce/appetizer in the world is hunger.” 32 One committee member brought to my attention that the theoretical stance of engagement might fit well into this study, perhaps even better than that of motivation. I look forward to investigating this suggestion, but I regret that it came too late in the dissertation process to incorporate it here. 226 students in this study. Few have family members that are fluent in an L2. Few have studied one (or more) language(s) for more than a couple years. Experiences through travel that encourage cross-lingual exchange have been minimal. From their responses throughout the study one must assume that neither school nor neighborhood offered the richness of cross-lingual engagement. They live and move and experience life in a monolingual society and, whether because of lack of opportunity or because of societal or individual avoidance of available opportunities, they will tend to perpetuate a monolingual society. While the causes for this may not be entirely clear, the repercussions are felt in many L2 classrooms. This population tends to see second language Ieaming as something useful (at least for immigrants who need to Ieam English), but most admit they are only taking the course to satisfy a college requirement. There is very little value placed on L2 Ieaming. In addition, the low value for L2 Ieaming is compounded by a poor L2 self- image on the part of the students. Many of the students show low expectancy for success in the class and claim they are not good language Ieamers. They admit that they are uncomfortable in Spanish class and say that they worry about making mistakes. Some students voiced concerns in the daily evaluations and in the interviews that they preferred spending class time on what would be tested. Perhaps this is the result of students studying a second language only to fulfill a college graduation requirement and their primary concern is to keep up their GPA. Add to that both the natural stress of L2 Ieaming as an adult (where 227 monolingualism is the norm) and a low L2 self-image, and the outcome is students who are uptight about their Ieaming (see Figure 4). Recognizing this context makes it understandable why students might express more appreciation for direct grammar instruction than for activities such as music where Ieaming seems less explicit. Motivation: fulfill college requirement, keep up GPA 4. Adult L2 students STUDENT in monolingual STRESS society 4. Low L2 self-image Figure 3 Roots of Student Stress in the L2 Classroom Thus, the comfort of a monolingual society coupled with little value for L2 Ieaming and low expectancy for success can breed fear in the minds of students. Listening, speaking, and writing are complex tasks and students admit that they feel overwhelmed. They acknowledge that they are frustrated with how long it 228 takes to Ieam a second language and they express that their feeble attempts at communication seem only juvenile (and, perhaps, humiliating) at best.33 Though second language educators do not have the power to change all of society, they must deal daily with the consequences of these barriers to motivation in the L2 classroom. How does one go about breaking the monolingual cycle when dealing with the will and the emotions of one’s students in the form of motivation? What can be done in the L2 classroom to bolster the confidence of students for L2 Ieaming? What will encourage students to hold a view of second language Ieaming contrary to that of the current culture in which they live? Encouraging participation in a class where low motivation and low expectancy for success reign may provide a needed impetus in reversing this trend. Music may be instrumental as one part in that change process. Certainly there are others that need to be researched as well. Motivations for Second Language Learning The students in this study affirmed various motivations for L2 Ieaming. Though students showed little desire to know a second language to increase social status or financial gain, they did express a desire to Ieam Spanish to communicate with people who speak the language, possibly in future job placements. However, most also admitted that they would not study a second language if it were not required and that the importance of the course material was due to concern for their GPA. Even their stated desire to use the language 33 Though beyond the scope of this study, it would be interesting to consider the following questions: How would the L2 self-image of these students compare to that of college students raised in a bilingual society? Would a change of context or situational necessity breed a different type of self-image? What process will be needed to bring about change in this area? 229 to communicate with native speakers was challenged by the results of the motivation questionnaire when only about a third of the students said they enjoy using Spanish outside of class when they get the chance. Students also commented on several outside influences in their motivations for L2 Ieaming: adults that encouraged them to study a certain language, enjoyment of a particular teacher or class activity, grade competition, and the enthusiasm of peers. However, the peer pressure also served as a negative influence if the peers perceived little or no value in L2 Ieaming. This sets the stage for L2 Ieaming with a weakened foundation. If students fail to embrace a usefulness for the second language beyond fulfilling a college requirement or keeping up their GPA; and if students are frightened by the prospect of using the language outside of the classroom for real purposes, they can cripple their L2 Ieaming and can fall miserably short in working toward any sense of L2 fluency. Several new questions related to L2 value and motivation rise out of the frequencies and correlations from the motivation questionnaire. What is the connection between value of L2 and motivation? That is, do students form an interest in L2 study because they see value in L2, or do they perceive value as a result of their interest? If interest comes from perception of value, what implications might that have for L2 programs designed for students raised in a monolingual society? How might an instructor encourage the perception of L2 value? On the other hand, if interest is primary, what is the role of the L2 instructor in promoting student interest in L2? 230 It could be true that each student’s personal level of anxiety impacts his/her view of L2 value and his/her engagement or motivation. Arnold and Brown (1999) point out the position of vulnerability into which adult second language Ieamers are forced and the consequences of that discomfort on motivation for second language Ieaming. Trosset (1986) suggests that the inability to talk for adult L2 Ieamers leads to feelings of inadequacy and shame. I am curious to know how the virtue of humility might fit into this context. lf instructors could prepare students to perceive value in Ieaming the virtue of humility through L2 learning, that is, becoming like a child through the inability to speak, how might that impact their willingness to experience the discomfort and the vulnerability? Would the value of the lesson of humility balance or outweigh the feelings of vulnerability? If a humility perspective (which could be somewhat foreign to many students in the U.S.) could support students through the vulnerability, how might instructors develop a plan to encourage the virtue of humility in the L2 classroom? Furthermore, how might a proper view of humility affect the students’ attitude toward the stranger and his/her openness to extending hospitality through cross-lingual experience? How might this adjustment in perspectives influence a student’s motivation for L2 Ieaming? It may also be that expectancy for success inhibits or encourages a student’s perception of L2 value. Barber (1980) suggests “reducing the emotional interference so that the external signals [can] get in” (p. 29). She says, First we have to begin to understand what is going on in the student’s head. If there is emotional blockage—and the ego is so sensitive to its 231 linguistic enterprises that I have found almost every college student has some damage there—we have to deal with it or recognize that we are choosing to cast certain types of students onto the dump heap. (1980, p. 31) Part of this process may need to include the teaching of various Ieaming strategies. If students do not know how to be successful in the L2 classroom and, consequently, view themselves as incapable, they will be more likely to exhibit low expectancy for success, conserve their energy rather than expend it on the class, and, ultimately engage less in the course material. An important question to investigate is, How accurate are the students’ self-assessments in regard to L2 success or ability? And, How might inaccuracies in that self- assessment affect motivation to Ieam? Barber discovered that some of her students “had no notion of who they were as Ieamers or of how to adapt their study methods either to their own Ieaming abilities or to the task required” (p. 29). She recommends “helping the students Ieam about themselves as Ieamers, so that what energy they [can] spring loose [is] directed more efficiently” (p. 29). Value of Music Activities for Second Language Learning There are three main concerns in looking at the role of music in L2 Ieaming in light of the findings of this study. The first is related to student perceptions of the helpfulness of the composing activity; the second to L2 skill development; and the third to motivation and participation. Why was the composing activity seen as more helpful than the singing or listening? Did 232 students connect the music activities to aspects of L2 skill building? Did students acknowledge an impact of music activities on their motivation? Composing Activity The first area of interest regarding the value of music activities has to do with the responses to the composing activity. The number of positive responses for the writing activity as Most Helpful was an interesting deviation from responses to the other types of music activities since it was certainly also the most challenging of the three activity types. It may be useful to ponder the differences between the activity types to determine what factors could play a part in the students’ perception of an activity being helpful to their Ieaming. Several possible factors include frequency or familiarity, the perception of challenge, group dynamics, level of active or passive participation, and/or language production. One aspect that differed between the three activity types was the frequency of use in the class. Whereas listening and singing were more frequent, the writing activity was only used once during the semester providing it a status of uniqueness that the other activities did not have. While this could have encouraged student participation, it seems unlikely that uniqueness alone would give students the perception that the activity was more helpful to their Ieaming than singing or listening. What impact does the uniqueness of the activity have on students’ perceptions of helpfulness to their Ieaming or on their willingness to participate? Another question is how the students’ perception of the depth of challenge of an activity affected their view of the activity’s usefulness for Ieaming. 233 Csikszentmihalyi (1975, 1997) mentions the idea of flow that results from the right combination of challenge matched with skill. Students commented that they had to use all of their L2 knowledge to complete the activity which may have been what prompted the enjoyment. However, it would seem that they needed similar knowledge to understand the songs to which they were listening and also to participate in the singing. Perhaps the creative or productive nature of the activity posed a deeper challenge than singing or listening, since the language material was provided for both listening and singing; in the composing activity, students had to generate the language themselves. It could be that group dynamics entered in. At first thought it may seem that listening and singing were more individual-oriented rather than group- oriented activities. While it is true that the listening began as an individual activity, after the initial listening to the song, the students were asked to compare what they found with a partner. In singing, students are voicing individually, but as part of a larger chorus which makes the singing a large group activity. The song writing activity, however, involved the use of small groups rather than whole group or pairs, where students needed to work together to accomplish the task. What role might this type of small group interaction play in the perception of helpfulness to Ieaming? Perhaps the level of accountability within the group made the students output more L2, thereby increasing the overall challenge. It is also possible that it was the task itself that provided more depth of challenge and that the group work served, not to deepen the challenge, but to make the task/goal attainable. 234 In all three activities students had an active role to play, however, the role was not the same for each one. In the listening activities, students needed to listen to the words of the song and try to write some of the words they heard in the song through recognition or through connecting sounds to corresponding letters. Then they were to compare them with a partner or with a projection of the words of the song. In singing, students looked at printed words on a song sheet and worked to pronounce them together to a rhythm and melody. The composing activity required individual input to complete a group task, which involved recalling vocabulary around a theme, conjugating verb forms, organizing sentence structure to fit a rhythm and a line of music. Thus, the listening activity involving language interpretation and the singing activity involving production of existing phrases may have seemed more like passive activities to the students. The composing activity, involving language production of original ideas, served as a creative outlet for L2 production (in a sense, language play), and therefore students may have felt more actively engaged. It seems, then, that a student’s perception of active/passive role and the task-based nature of the activity may influence his/her perception of the helpfulness of the activity to L2 Ieaming. Perhaps music activities should be designed as authentic tasks or as problems to be solved in order for students to perceive them as having the most effective benefit. It could be the production of and the creativity with the language that makes students perceive usefulness to Ieaming. In the listening, students produced language by writing familiar and unfamiliar words. In singing students 235 produced language by voicing/pronouncing the words of the songs. However, in the song writing activity they needed to produce language in a different way. They were not merely recognizing or voicing words already provided for them. They were in charge of language production in the sense of creating the song. This required them to utilize everything that they had Ieamed so far in order to produce a group creation. Perhaps this challenge to L2 skills was what made the students perceive greater value for their Ieaming than the other music activities. If this is the case, a teacher may need to construct the singing and listening activities differently. Students may need to understand the activity as a problem to solve and as set in a meaningful context in order to increase the challenge and the perception of helpfulness to Ieaming. However, this may also demand more time for the activity, time which may not be available in certain academic contexts. Music and Second Language Skills The students in the study recognized several connections between the music activities and L2 skill reinforcement. Sixty percent said that singing in class was not a waste of time and 54% perceived it as a valuable class activity. Some commented that singing was helpful for building speaking skills, pronunciation, fluency (speed of speech), and a few believed singing helped with grammar. For some the listening served to strengthen sound-symbol connections, listening comprehension, and grammar. Some enjoyed the composing activity as a comprehensive review of all they had Ieamed so far. There was some indication that the singing and listening activities provided a slightly stronger perception of value toward L2 Ieaming goals for those students 236 with low expectancy for success or those with a negative attitude toward second language Ieaming. Despite these connections, the statistics gathered in the motivation questionnaire showed that less than half of the students perceived value in singing and listening for speaking or pronunciation and even fewer for supporting an understanding of grammar. However, as mentioned earlier, the wording of the grammar item was phrased “l Ieam Spanish grammar from singing in class” as opposed to the wording for the other skill questions that used the word “improve”. It could be that students associate learning with direct instruction which they did not feel they received from music activities; they may associate improvement with practicing, which could explain why the ratings for other skills were higher than for grammar. This low value of music for grammar Ieaming could also be a result of student expectations. Students might perceive grammar as an aspect of language that has to be taught explicitly rather than acquired through experience, based on their prior L2 classroom experiences and their limited engagement in cross-lingual settings. This raises the question as to whether a student’s perception of effective teaching practice would correlate with his/her perception of the value of music activities for Ieaming L2 skills. Would students that have only experienced direct instruction of grammar tend to view listening and singing as unhelpful to their Ieaming? And would students who have experienced L2 Ieaming through cross-lingual exchanges perceive more benefit to listening and singing input for L2 Ieaming? 237 Music and Participation Although almost half of the students in the study reported that they feel nervous in class when speaking Spanish, a majority of students marked that singing in class made them feel more comfortable and that singing raised their comfort level in class. In fact, more students responded in favor of the singing activities in the motivation questionnaire than they did for second language Ieaming in general. There was even some indication from the correlations between questions that those students that did not feel they could apply their best effort in class had a tendency to enjoy the singing activity. This supports the notion of Ely ( 1986) raised in chapter 1: Apparently, before some students can be expected to take linguistic risks, they must be made to feel more psychologically comfortable and safe in their Ieaming environment. To this end, classroom teachers may wish to devise and test the relative effectiveness of various strategies for lessening Language Class Discomfort. (pp. 22-3) In the open-ended items at the end of the questionnaire there was strong support for the appeal of music activities in the L2 classroom. In a question asking for the three aspects of the class that the students enjoyed the most, there were 48 total responses pertaining to music activities, more than any other category of class activities. In addition, in the daily evaluations a higher percentage of students rated all three music activities as Most Participate than Least Participate. In L2 Ieaming where practice and engagement with the language is crucial, a student’s enthusiasm for participation is key. This is an important point to ponder. 238 Interestingly, in the motivation questionnaire a negative correlation was shown between putting forth one’s best effort in this class with enjoyment of singing. Thus, students unable to put forth their best effort in class tended to report an enjoyment of singing. What does this negative correlation say about the effects of an enjoyable stimulus in situations of low motivation? How might the use of music activities affect the effort and/or the willingness to participate that a student applies to class work? Need for Further Research Several intriguing issues rise out of these findings. Some have already been discussed earlier in this chapter and will only be mentioned here in brief. Two others will be discussed in more depth: the first has to do with the importance of focused attention for perceived value; the other centers on student perception of the din. Regarding student motivation, how do interest and value intersect? Does one’s perception of value of L2 increase because of interest in languages or does one’s interest increase because of the value perceived? Also, how does one perceive value for L2 Ieaming in a particular activity (such as the composing activity)? How did student perceptions of the various factors of uniqueness, challenge, small group, active/passive role, creative thinking, task-based context influence students to perceive value in the composing activity? How can instructors design music activities to take advantage of student perceptions of value? Should all activities be based in a task-type context in order to be perceived as valuable? Furthermore, how do student perceptions of valid modes 239 of L2 instruction (direct instruction vs. indirect) affect their perception of the value of music activities for Ieaming L2 skills, such as grammar? Focused Attention and Value Although 40% of the students chose singing as the activity that made them feel most like participating, in the motivation questionnaire only five perceived it as helpful to their Ieaming. As an L2 instructor, I see value in all of the music activities that I use in class and, under normal class conditions (that is, not conducting a research study), I would instruct the students as to the value of the activities for Ieaming pronunciation, fluency, grammatical structures, syntax, collocations, vocabulary, and the cultural information available through the study of musical cultural products. In addition, singing in class has value because students are able to vocalize in the language beyond what they would be able to do on their own and the musical sound produced by a community of L2 Ieamers can be a pleasurable experience. I did not explain these benefits to the students before nor during the time that the data were collected for this study, because I did not want to feed the responses of the students in any way. In a power relationship (such as student- teacher), it can be the case that the party with less power in the social context acquiesce to the one with more power by responding in ways that one thinks will please the other. It was important to determine what the student perceptions were, not what they could repeat from what their professor taught them about the value of music. However, teaching cannot be conducted in a value vacuum. Certain values and beliefs are always represented or promoted by the nature of the 240 teaching/Ieaming process. Not instructing the students in the value of the music activities may have given the message that the activities had little or no value for learning. This was conflictive for me because I believe that when students perceive value in an activity, they approach it with more energy and interest. Furthermore, some students need the purpose pointed out to them, especially in a subject area that they do not value highly at the outset. It would be important to see what sort of difference, if any, this explicit instruction would make in the students’ perceptions of the value of the music activities for reinforcing L2 skills. Din A second aspect of interest in using music activities to reinforce L2 Ieaming is that of the din which was reported by the majority of students. How does playback or din affect student Ieaming? How might one determine the frequency of playback or improve student recall of playback? Can students benefit from the additional reinforcement provided by playback whether or not they are conscious of the experience? In addition, there were significant positive correlations between many of the music items and the din items on the questionnaire which raises a relational issue: Did students notice playback because they saw value in the music activities or did they see value because they experienced playback? Another question of causality stems from the negative correlations between the din question and two questions regarding L2 Ieaming (the importance of Ieaming the course material and working hard on course work even when difficult). Why would students who reported the din tend to disagree with these L2 Ieaming items? It could be that the music activities provided a 241 pleasurable stimulus for some students that otherwise did not have a strong motivation to Ieam the L2 and that the effects of the stimulus lasted after the actual class time. If so, how might the words of the songs in the form of playback provide additional rehearsal of syntax or grammatical forms? Conclusion Understanding student motivations in L2 Ieaming is a complex and daunting task, one that demands extensive research. Cook (2000) called for more investigation into what students like and want and what they find interesting in the study of a second language. The findings from this study indicated that these students live in a society with minimal support for or modeling of L2 fluency. Second language Ieaming began later in life than any other core subject, during middle school or high school. The students have had few opportunities to need or use a second language through travel or everyday experience and there are very few adults in their immediate or extended family that are fluent in an L2. The students showed some consensus in regard to motivations for L2 Ieaming. The majority of the students admitted that they would not be taking the class if it were not to fulfill a college requirement. Even though they saw some importance for immigrants to Ieam English as a second language and believed that Spanish is an important language in the U.S., they did not agree that Ieaming a second language was important for everyone. Although they perceived some value in the music activities for building L2 skills, students indicated strong support for the affective effects of the music 242 activities in the classroom. The majority of the students perceived value in the music activities for lowering the anxiety they felt in the class. More students indicated appreciation for the music activities than for the study of L2 in general. When asked for the three activities that they most enjoyed throughout the semester, students listed a music activity more than any other classroom activity. From the student responses it is clear that for the majority of students in this study the enjoyment of language play in the form of music in the L2 classroom continues into adulthood. This study has contributed a small piece to the puzzle of student engagement and motivation in the L2 classroom. Student responses strongly supported the current context for L2 Ieaming including the weak personal motivation for L2 study and the monolingual nature of this culture that was set forth in the literature review. Student responses also indicated strong support for the positive effects of the use of music activities in the L2 classroom to encourage student engagement and participation in building L2 skills. 243 APPENDICES 244 Appendix A Cover Letter to Students [date] Dear [student], I am currently studying in the doctoral program in teacher education at Michigan State University. One of the program requirements is to develop and implement a research project in education. I am writing you this letter to inform you about the purpose of the project and to invite you to participate. Of course, your participation is strictly voluntary and in no way will affect your performance or grade in this class. I will have no knowledge of which students have agreed to participate in the study until the semester is completed and final grades have been turned in. This qualitative study will focus on activities used in teaching a second language to college students. In all cases, only data of students who consent to participate will be used in the final analysis and report. To gather data, I will use four basic methods: 1. Initial survey: The purpose of this survey is to gather data pertaining to the foreign language background of the students and will be filled out anonymously. 2. Daily evaluations: As a part of regular class format all students will complete a brief evaluation of activities used in class on a daily basis for a two- to four-week period during the semester. These responses will be signed with a three-digit code instead of a name, will be kept in strict confidence, and I will not see them in their original handwritten form until final grades have been submitted to the registrar. Though all students will do these evaluations as regular feedback on class activities to be used for teaching purposes, only the data from students who have consented to participate will be used in the research analysis and the report of the findings. 3. Survey: This survey, focusing on motivations for foreign language Ieaming and activity preferences, will be filled out during one class period. 4. Final interviews: The focus of the interviews will be student perceptions of motivations for foreign language study and preferences for certain class activities. The interviews will consist of one or two sessions of about one hour each and will take place after the semester is completed and after final grades have been submitted to the registrar. The interview will be scheduled for a time that is convenient to you. Using audio tape during the interviews will help me be able to study the interview in more depth than would be possible just relying on my memory. However, you will be asked before any interview session whether or not you consent to being audio taped. You will also have the right to have the recording stopped at any time during an interview. Because your participation is completely voluntary, you can decide that you will not be a part of the study at all, or you can withdraw from the study at 245 Appendix A (cont.) any time without penalty. Any student who is not a part of the study will still be a full member of the class, able to participate in all of the regular classroom activities; your evaluations and comments would just not be used in the study. If you do participate in the study, you may choose not to answer any particular interview or survey question. All the data collected in this study will be treated with strict confidence. Your name will not be used in any reports about this project, and any identifying characteristics will be disguised. Though the data from this study may be maintained indefinitely and may be used in reports about the project, in published articles, in presentations at conferences, and in teacher education classes at this college and at Michigan State University, in any such uses your identity will not be revealed. You may choose to have any segment of audio tapes in which you are identifiable not used in the study or in presentations. Please read carefully the enclosed consent form. I will have copies of the consent form available in class. If you are a minor, a similar consent form has been sent to your parents. If you have any questions concerning the nature of this project, please contact me at school (957-6356) or at home (452-5214) or you may contact my project advisor Dr. Doug Campbell at Michigan State University (517-432-1502). Thank you very much for considering participation in this research project. Sincerely, Marcie J. Pyper Spanish Department, Hiemenga Hall 405 246 Appendix B Student Consent Form Consent for participation in this research study The data from this study may be maintained indefinitely and may be used in reports about the project, in published articles, in presentations at conferences, and in teacher education classes at this college and at Michigan State University. In any such uses your identity will not be revealed. In any audiotapes of interviews, your voice may be recognizable by those familiar with the situation even though no names will be used. You may choose to have any segment of audio tapes in which you are identifiable not used in the study or in presentations. Your participation is strictly voluntary and you may at any time withdraw from the study without penalty. You will have the opportunity to agree or decline to be involved in the study’s various activities. Choosing not to participate will have no impact on your right to be a full member of this class. The instructor of the class will not have access to the information regarding which students are participating in the study until all final grades for the semester have been submitted to the registrar. l consent to participation in the following activities (please indicate “yes” or “no” for each category): 1. You may use data from my initial survey of foreign language background. yes no 2. You may use data from my regular evaluations of class activities. __yes __no 3. You may use data from my survey of motivations and preferences for class activities. yes no 4. You may interview me concerning my motivations and preferences for class activities. yes no 5. You may audiotape conversations described in item #4 above. yes no 6. You may use audio tapes from my interview(s) in presentations as long as you do not identify me by name or through other background information about me. yes no Student’s name (Please print) Student’s signature Date Three-digit ID code (Pick something you will not have difficulty remembering and record it somewhere as the researcher will not have access to these codes until the semester is completed.) 247 Appendix B (cont.) If you have any questions concerning the nature of this project, please contact me, Marcie J. Pyper, at school (616-957-6356) or at home (616-452- 5214) or you may contact my project advisor Dr. Doug Campbell at Michigan State University (517-432-1502) or Dr. Ashir Kumar, MD, Chairman of the University Committee on Research Involving Human Subjects, at 517-355-2180. 248 Appendix C Cover Letter to Parents of Minors [date] Dear , Your son/daughter is currently enrolled in a Spanish 201 course for which I am the instructor. I am writing you this letter to inform you about the general purpose of a research project in which I am involved (as part of the requirements for the doctoral program in Teacher Education at Michigan State University) and to request your permission for your son/daughter to participate. Of course, the participation of your child is strictly voluntary and in no way will affect your child’s performance or grade in this class. Your son/daughter will also receive a letter and a consent form similar to this one when the project is introduced In class. I will have no knowledge of which students have agreed to participate in the study until the semester is completed and final grades have been turned in. This qualitative study will focus on activities used in teaching a second language to college students. In all cases, only data of students who consent to participate will be used in the final analysis and report. To gather data, I will use four basic methods: 1. Initial survey: The purpose of this survey is to gather data pertaining to the foreign language background of the students and will be filled out anonymously. 2. Daily evaluations: As a part of regular class format all students will complete a brief evaluation of activities used in class on a daily basis for a two- to four-week period during the semester. These responses will be signed with a three-digit code instead of a name, will be kept in strict confidence, and I will not see them in their original handwritten form until final grades have been submitted to the registrar. Though all students will do these evaluations as regular feedback on class activities to be used for teaching purposes, only the data from students who have consented to participate will be used in the research analysis and the report of the findings. 3. Survey: This survey, focusing on motivations for foreign language Ieaming and activity preferences, will be filled out during one class period. 4. Final interviews: The focus of the interviews will be student perceptions of motivations for foreign language study and preferences for certain class activities. The interviews will consist of one or two sessions of about one hour each and will take place after the semester is completed and after final grades have been submitted to the registrar. The interview will be scheduled for a time that is convenient to your son or daughter. Using audio tape during the interviews will help me be able to study the interview in more depth than would be possible just relying on my memory. However, your son or daughter will be asked before any interview session whether or not they consent to being audio taped. They 249 Appendix C (cont.) will also have the right to have the recording stopped at any time during an interview. Because your son’s or daughter’s participation is completely voluntary, you can decide that s/he will not be a part of the study at all, or s/he can withdraw from the study at any time without penalty. Any student who is not a part of the study will still be a full member of the class, able to participate in all of the regular classroom activities; his/her evaluations and comments would just not be used in the study. If your son or daughter does participate in the study, sIhe may choose not to answer any particular interview or survey question. All the data collected in this study will be treated with strict confidence. Your child’s name will not be used in any reports about this project, and any identifying characteristics will be disguised. Though the data from this study may be maintained indefinitely and may be used in reports about the project, in published articles, in presentations at conferences, and in teacher education classes at this college and at Michigan State University, in any such uses your child’s identity will not be revealed. You or your child may choose to have any segment of audio tapes in which he/she is identifiable not used in the study or in presentations. Please read carefully the enclosed consent form and return it in the envelope within seven days. If you have any questions concerning the nature of this project, please contact me at school (616-957-6356) or at home (616-452- 5214) or you may contact my project advisor Dr. Doug Campbell at Michigan State University (517-432-1502). Thank you very much for considering your son’s/daughter’s participation in this research project. Sincerely, Marcie J. Pyper Spanish Department, Hiemenga Hall 405 250 Appendix D Parental Consent Form Consent for my child’s participation in this research study The data from this study may be maintained indefinitely and may be used in reports about the project, in published articles, in presentations at conferences, and in teacher education classes at this college and at Michigan State University. In any such uses your child’s identity will not be revealed. In any audiotapes of interviews, your child’s voice may be recognizable by those familiar with the situation even though no names will be used. You may choose to have any segment of audio tapes in which your child is identifiable not used in the study or in presentations. Your child’s participation is strictly voluntary and you may at any time withdraw your child from the study without penalty. You will have the opportunity to agree or decline to have your child involved in the study’s various activities. Choosing not to participate will have no impact on your child’s right to be a full member of this class. The instructor of the class will not have access to the information regarding which students are participating in the study until all final grades for the semester have been submitted to the registrar. I consent to my child’s participation in the following activities (please indicate “yes” or “no” for each category): 1. You may use data from my child’s initial survey of foreign language background. yes no 2. You may use data from my child’s regular evaluations of class activities. yes no 3. You may use data from my child’s survey of motivations and preferences for class activities. yes no 4. You may interview my child concerning his/her motivations and preferences for class activities. yes no 5. You may audiotape conversations described in item #4 above. yes no 6. You may use audio tapes from my child’s interview(s) in presentations as long as you do not identify my child by name or through other background information about him/her. yes no Student’s name (Please print) Parent/Guardian’s name (Please print) Parent/Guardian’s signature Date Parent/Guardian’s name (Please print) 251 Appendix D (cont.) Parent/Guardian’s signature Date (Note: Please have both parents sign the consent form where applicable. You may make a copy of the consent form and use a separate consent form for each parent/guardian’s consent, if so desired.) If you have any questions concerning the nature of this project, please contact me, Marcie J. Pyper, at school (616-957-6356) or at home (616-452- 5214) or you may contact my project advisor Dr. Doug Campbell at Michigan State University (517-432-1502) or Dr. Ashir Kumar, MD, (Chairman of the University Committee on Research Involving Human Subjects) at 517-355-2180. 252 Appendix E Cover Letter to the College [date] Dear , As part of my doctoral studies in Teacher Education at Michigan State University I am required to conduct a research project. The focus of my research is a qualitative study of student motivations in foreign language study and student preferences for class activities, including the use of music in second language Ieaming. The purpose of this letter is to introduce you to the study and to ask permission to study two classes of intermediate Spanish in which I am the instructor during the fall semester of 2002. The students will be informed by letter about the general purposes of the research project, the specific methods and procedures, and will then be invited to participate. (In addition, if any of the students are minors, their parents will be sent a cover letter and the appropriate consent forms.) Students will be able to choose without penalty whether or not to participate. A research assistant (or the department secretary) will collect a consent form upon which all students will write their name, a self-generated three-digit code, and will indicate whether they consent to participate in the various activities of the study. This information will be sealed and kept with the secretary. I will have no knowledge of who has consented until the final grades are completed and submitted to the registrar. All of the students in the class will be asked to regularly evaluate the activities used in class. They will be given a few minutes at the end of each class period in which to do this. No time commitment outside of class will be required for those who do not consent, nor will the data from their evaluation forms be entered into the analysis. Five to ten of the consenting students will be invited to participate in a one-hour interview following the end of the semester, with the option of a follow-up interview if necessary. The benefits of this study for the students far outweigh any disadvantages. All of the students will have music integrated into their language Ieaming. Since the students will only be aware that I am studying class activities (not specifically music and language Ieaming, so as not to influence their responses to certain activities), they will be evaluating all class activities. This will allow for alterations or adaptations based on student needs which will benefit all the students. The student evaluations will be typed for me by a research assistant to insure anonymity. The original handwritten evaluations will only be seen by the research assistant until the final grades have been submitted to the registrar. If you have any further questions about this study, please contact me. My office phone is extension 6356; my home phone is 452-5214; e-mail is . You may also contact my project advisor Dr. Douglas Campbell (517-432-1502 or campbell@pilot.msu.edu) with any concerns you may have. Thank you for your kind consideration of this project. Sincerely, 253 Appendix F Follow Up Letter Asking for Research Assistant [date] Dear [department chair/dean of instruction], Recently I received permission from to carry out a research project in two Spanish classes this fall. Since I cannot know who has consented to participate in the study until after the completion of the semester to insure anonymity and confidentiality in the gathering of data, I will need a research assistant who is able to carry out some of the tasks of data collection. These tasks would include (but not be limited to) the following: 0 be in class to collect the consent forms at the beginning of the study; 0 record the student names and three-digit ID codes (for reference after the semester is completed); 0 seal the consent forms and ID list in an envelope and give them to the department secretary to keep until the end of the semester; - type the student evaluations for me each day (since I could possibly recognize the students’ handwriting if I read them myself); - begin preliminary coding of the regular student evaluations of class activities for those who have consented to participate in the study; . input data from student survey on motivation and activity preferences into SPSS. I am writing to request permission to utilize one of the student workers in the department for this research assistant position (preferably one with interests in the field of FL education). I anticipate a workload of 3-7 hours per week. Being involved as a college student in a research project such as this would serve as an invaluable educational experience for someone interested in teaching foreign language. Reading the feedback of the students and working to analyze it would furnish the assistant with constructive and beneficial information as input to his/her own teaching strategies. It could also provide inspiration and encouragement for the student to consider graduate studies and research in the field of foreign language education. If you have any questions concerning this request or the research project in general, please contact me at 452-5214 or extension 6356 at Calvin. You may also contact my project advisor Dr. Douglas Campbell at Michigan State University regarding the research project (517-432-1502). Thank you for approving the project and for your kind consideration of this request. Sincerely, Marcie Pyper Spanish Department Hiemenga Hall 405 957-6356/452-521 4 254 Appendix G Initial Student Survey Student Three-digit Code (Please write this in the inside cover of your Spanish notebook for future reference) Answer each question based on your own personal experience: 1. How many second languages have you studied, including Spanish? Which others? 2. How many years of formal second language study have you had, including Spanish? 3. At what age was your first encounter with someone from a different cultural background? What cultural background? For what length of time? 4. At what age was your first encounter with someone from a different language background? What language? For what length of time? S. For how many in your immediate/extended family is English a second language? For whom?/W hat is their first language? 5. How many people in your immediate family speak a second language fluently? Who?/What language(s)? 255 Appendix G (cont.) 6. How many people in your extended family speak a second language fluently? Who?/What language(s)? 7. How many times have you traveled to places that encouraged or provided exposure to another language? To where did you go and for how long? 8. Why do you, or do you not, want to learn a second language? 9. What particular language experiences (exposure or Ieaming) do you recall as being specifically positive or negative in your memory? 10. For you, what are the negative aspects of foreign language Ieaming? 256 Appendix H Initial Student Survey Results Sample First encounter with different culture?lwhat culture?llength of QSAIB/C time? range frequencies specifics NR 11 0-5 16 includes: “very yougl‘K' 6-12 11 includes: “young“ 13-18 10 includes: “high school” 1 8+ 0 48 Hispanic 12 Mexican; Hispanic; Latino; Spanish; East 5 Asian American; Vietnamese; Korean; Asian Japanese; African 6 Nigerian; African American; African; Ghana; Arab 1 “Muslim“ Caribbean 1 "Haitian" Native . American 1 Zuni; Indian 1 Could be Native American, but not specific Russian 1 En land/Ital ; Dutch; D t h, British, Bel ian, European 5 Fregnch; Ger¥nany; U c 9 Other 3 “many“; “inner city Chicago“ NR 12 48 minutes 3 5 min; 10 min.; "one hour--off and on contact" hours 2 1 hour; "a night“ “a weekend”; “week or two"; 1 week; “about a days 5 week“; 1 week weeks 4 2 weeks; 2 weeks; “a few weeks“; 1 month; 1.5 mos.; “few months“; “in my kindergarten months 6 class“; “a school year“; “a year“; “weeks at a time babysitting “all my life“; “throughout my schooling“; “all through HS“; '5 yrs. In school“; 15 years; “lived years 11 on street and still do“; “we are still very close today“; 2 years; “my whole childhood“; NR 17 48 257 Appendix I Student Daily Evaluations STUDENT CODE DATE Which activities in class today where most helpful to your language Ieaming and why? Which activities in class today were least helpful to your language Ieaming and why not? Which activities today made you most feel like participating and why? Which activities today made you least feel like participating and why? 258 Appendix J Guidelines for Composing Activity ESCRIBA UNA CANCION Miembros del conjunto musical: Time Instructions 1 min. 1. Choose a singable, simple tune before you begin working. Possible tunes include (but are not limited to): La cucaracha; Cielito Lindo; Happy Birthday; Mulberry Bush; Twinkle, Twinkle... NOTE: You may have to make slight changes in the rhythm of the song to match the rhythm of the language. 1 min. 2. Choose a theme for the song, such as: Un dia horrible; Mi dia favorito; Algo me paso ayer; El martes pasado; Mi amor perdido;... Use your imagination. 15 min. 3. Work on composing the song. The words should fit the music, or the music should be adapted to the rhythm of the words (especially preterite accent on the final syllable). Include in your song the following elements: . Use verbs from the Vocab Lists from chapters 1-3. 0 Use at least one adverb of time or sequence in your song . Use preterite forms to communicate completed actions in the past. 0 Include at least one irregular preterite 0 Include at least one -ir stem-changing verb in the preterite 5 min. 4. Edit your song for grammar and coherence. 10 min. 5. Present your song to the class. 259 Appendix J (cont.) Eselrfilba Elma cameficém (La melodia: ) El tema: # de versos Estribillo: si no ——— el tr’tulo 260 Appendix K Revised Daily Evaluation Form 1. In what way(s) was the music activity today helpful or not helpful to your Ieaming? HELPFUL: NOT HELPFUL: 2. Why did you, or did you not, feel like participating in the music activity today? I FELT LIKE PARTICIPATING BECAUSE... I DID NOT FEEL LIKE PARTICIPATING BECAUSE... 261 3.25m £5 Eo: cooE Emo. Eon _ mmamooo 82 .2055 o 35.. m... 58: Eon mm . new 5539 E9: 50 9.59 3. new no.: com: o. EatooE. 55 no: 55 on _..2, m3 265. 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Eon . . $628.53 :5 9...... $383 cosmemEoo o. 95:22.. meow _ mwoom . 95.0. 9.. . owomooo - 5.950 mELo. 5259:. dc.._..n 9.: 5.3 noemc Lo. noon .5% .o < n:o_ mE .5. 2.8.. - 59.8.53 E5. aura. no.5; ncm mm So 25.51% ncm .55 ans; o... 9.532 n5; 8. 5.5.2.555 .cn.omm.o>coo 35> 5.33:. .0 EB. 50 on no; . - anmocw-o: 65 new. 82858.. 9: - 9.3.83 6285mm... oE onoE - anmozmmz emu o3 man So So F .mmcmnmoam 95.5355 >..mn_ n.aEmm 4 x.ncmn.o< 262 Appendix M Sample Daily Evaluations Spreadsheet 2 Least Most Helpful Least Helpful Most Participate Participate 12-Nov 071 writing the song 071 (see ”least way fun, but not helpful“) reallLthat hrflul 12-Nov 267 la cancion - it was fun 12-Nov 208 escriba una 208 escriba cancion - didn't una cancion - really Ieam any not for language everyone 12-Nov 516 the writing of the song because it was fun 12-Nov 122 the song 122 the song 12-Nov 628 divertido 12-Nov 126 la cancidn 126 la cancién because it was fun because it was very fun 12-Nov 508 song was 508 the song helpful because it because fue muy was fun and we divertido were learning to write t2-Nov 579 song...group 579 song, it was work with fun and got us interactive into Ieaming learning preterit 12-Nov 160 the song made me feel most like participating 12-Nov 789 the song was 789 the song the most helpful because we were because it made working in small us use our groups Spanish. The application was good. 12-Nov 802 cancién - didn't 802 cancién - it really learn anything was fun 12-Nov 724 writing the 724 the song song 12-Nov 593 una cancion - it was fun 12-Nov 950 the song 950 the song because we didn’t because it was learn much different 12-Nov 020 I very much 020 the song I disliked the song didn't like it. cause I don't like to sing 263 Student Survey on Motivation and Activity Preferences (Design) Appendix N Please indicate for each item your level of agreement or disagreement according to the following key: 1 = strongly agree 2 = agree 3 = neither agree nor disagree 4 = disagree 5 = strongly disagree Orig orig ca Q SA SD ff cat 1 # SC SOCIAL CONTEXT ‘ SC R 30 My family believes it is important for 1 5 me to be able to communicate in a secondlanguage. 2 SC R 36 Most of my friends think that Ieaming a 1 5 second language is important. 3 3‘3 R 37 Some of the members of my family are 1 5 fluent in a second language. 4 SC 3 23 Spanish is an important language in 1 5 North American society. 5 SC 3 24 All North Americans should Ieam to 1 5 communicate in a second language. 5 SC 3 25 Knowing a second language should 1 5 not be necessary in this country. (reverse coded) 264 Orig orig ca Q SA SD ff cat 1 # PEDAGOGICAL CONTEXT 7 PC 0 41 Speaking Spanish in class makes me 1 5 feel nervous. 8 PC 0 50 I feel anxious when we sing in Spanish 1 5 ' in class. (reverse coded) 9 PC A 55 I like being able to choose the songs 1 5 that we sing in class. 10 PC 0 42 I enjoy this class more when we sing. 1 5 1‘ PC A 61 Singing in Spanish seems to me a 1 5 waste of class time. (reverse coded) 12 PC A 63 Singing Spanish songs in class makes 1 5 this class more enjoyable. 13 PC L 18 Singing songs in class makes me enjoy 1 5 the Spanish language more. 14 PC A 56 Singing in Spanish is a valuable class 1 5 activity. 15 PC i 66 I like this class more when we listen to 1 5 Hispanic music. 16 PC 3 81 I enjoy making up words to familiar 1 5 tunes in class. 17 PC 3 82 Writing words to familiar tunes is too 1 5 difficult at this level. (REVERSE CODED) 28 PC 0 46 Singing in class makes me feel more 1 5 comfortable. ST TYPES OF SONGS ‘8 ST A 57 1 especially enjoy singing the songs of 1 5 faith. 265 Orig orig ca Q SA SD if cat I # 19 ST A 58 I especially enjoy singing the songs of 1 5 culture. 20 ST A 64 I really like it singing songs that have 1 5 familiar tunes. 2‘ ST A 65 I really like learning songs that are 1 5 new. 22 ST 0 43 I especially enjoy listening to songs in 1 5 class that have a “Iatino” beat. SR SKILL BUILDING 23 SR 3 70 l Ieam Spanish grammar from the 1 5 singing in class. 24 SB 3 75 l Ieam Spanish grammar from listening 1 5 to songs in class. 25 38 E 68 Singing in class helps me improve my 1 5 Spanish pronunciation. 26 SB 3 73 Singing in class helps me improve my 1 5 speaking ability. 27 SB 3" 77 Singing in class helps me improve my 1 5 listening ability. ‘50 GROUP COHESION 29 GC R 31 Singing together in class brings the 1 5 class closer as a group. 30 GC R 38 I know more names of fellow students 1 5 in this class than I do in any of my other classes. 31 G0 R 40 Singing songs of faith makes me feel 1 5 united with others in the class. 266 Orig If orig cat ca #0 SA SD 32 GC 39 I don’t feel like I’m very close to other students in this class. (REVERSE CODED) DN DIN 33 DN 71 Sometimes after we sing in class, the words play back in my head. DN 80 Sometimes I remember specific words or phrases from songs we sing in class. ET ETHNOCENTRISM 35 ET 32 My family believes that all immigrants to the U.S. should Ieam English. 36 ET 19 I believe that all immigrants to the U.S. should learn English. 37 ET 26 My family believes that everyone should know a second language. 38 ET 21 I believe that every U. S. citizen should Ieam a second language. Modified SURVEY ITEMS FROM Jacques (2001)/Part A: Motivation, p. 207 JIO VALUE: INTEGRATIVE ORIENTATION 39 JIO Studying Spanish is important because it will allow me to interact with people who speak it. 267 Srig orig ca Q SA SD cat 1 # 40 J'0 R 27 I am Ieaming Spanish to be able to 1 5 communicate with relatives who speak it. 4‘ J'0 R 33 I am learning Spanish to be able to 1 5 communicate with friends who speak it. 42 J'0 S 20 I want to be more a part of the cultural 1 5 group that speaks Spanish. J'C VALUE: INTEREST IN FL AND CULTURES 43 J'C L 3 Studying foreign languages is an 1 5 important part of education. 44 M3 L 2 I would like to Ieam several foreign 1 5 languages. 45 J'C L 5 This language is important to me 1 5 because it will broaden my worldview. 46 J'C S 22 I enjoy meeting and interacting with 1 5 people from many cultures. JLR VALUE: LANGUAGE REQUIREMENT 47 JLR L 4 I mainly study Spanish to satisfy the 1 5 university language requirement. VALUE: HERITAGE LANGUAGE 48 JRL R 28 Spanish is important to me because it 1 5 is part of my cultural heritage. 49 JRL R 34 I have a personal attachment to 1 5 Spanish as part of my identity. VALUE: INSTRUMENTAL ORIENTATION 50 J'NO L 6 Increasing my proficiency in Spanish 1 5 will have financial benefits for me. 5‘ JINO L 10 Being able to speak Spanish will add to 1 5 268 Orig orig ca Q SA SD ff cat I # my social status. 52 JINO L 8 I am Ieaming Spanish to understand 1 5 films, videos, or music. 53 J'NO L 7 I want to Ieam Spanish because it is 1 5 important to show my ability to others. JIM VALUE: INTRINSIC MOTIVATION 54 W L 9 I would take this class even if it were 1 5 not required. 55 W 0 44 I really enjoy learning Spanish. 1 5 56 W 0 51 I don’t like language learning. (reverse 1 5 coded) 57 W L 11 I enjoy using Spanish outside class 1 5 whenever I have a chance. 58 W A 59 My language class is a challenge that I 1 5 enjoy. 59 J'“ L 12 When class ends, I often wish that we 1 5 could continue. 50 W L 13 When I am in class, I often think that l 1 5 would rather be doing something else. (reverse coded) 6‘ W A 60 I find my language class boring. I 5 (reverse coded) JTV VALUE: TASK VALUE 62 JTV L 14 What I Ieam in this class will help me in 1 5 other courses. 63 JTV L 15 I like the subject matter of this course. 1 5 64 JTV L 16 It is important to me to Ieam the course 1 5 material in this class. JEX EXPECTANCY: EXPECTANCY 269 Orig orig ca Q SA SD # cat t # 65 JEX 0 45 I am worried about my ability to do well 1 5 in this class. (reverse coded) 56 JEX i 72 I’m certain I can master the skills being 1 5 taught in this class. 57 JEX E 69 I believe I will receive an excellent 1 5 grade in this class. JEXA EXPECTANCY: ANXIETY 68 JEXA 0 48 I feel more tense and nervous in this 1 5 class than I do in my other classes. 69 JEXA 0 52 I feel uncomfortable when l have to 1 5 speak in this class. 70 JEXA 0 53 I rarely have difficulty concentrating in 1 5 this class. (reverse coded) 71 JEXA A 62 I don’t worry about making mistakes 1 5 when speaking Spanish in front of this class. (reverse coded) Efl- EXPECTANCY LANGUAGE APRTUDE 7?- JEXL i 67 I am good at grammar. 1 5 73 JEXL E 76 In general, I am an exceptionally good 1 5 language Ieamer. 74 JEXL E 74 I can imitate the sounds of this 1 5 language very well. 75 JEXL E 78 I can guess the meanings of new 1 5 vocabulary words very well. JEXM EXPECTANCY: MOTIVATIONAL STRENGTH 270 Orig orig ca Q SA SD cat I # 76 JEXM E 79 I can truly put my best effort into 1 5 Ieaming Spanish. 77 JEXM 0 49 I work hard in this class even when l 1 5 don’t like what we are doing. 78 JEXM A 54 Even when the class materials are dull 1 5 and uninteresting, I always finish my work. 79 JEXM 0 47 I often feel lazy or bored when I study 1 5 for this class. (reverse coded) 80 JEXM 80 83 When course work is difficult, I either 1 5 give up or only study the easy parts. (reverse coded) 8‘ JEXM L 17 It is most important to me to do my 1 5 best in this class. J00 COMPETITIVE VS. COOPERATIVE: COOPERATIVENESS 82 J00 R 29 My relationship with the other students 1 5 in this class is important to me. 83 J00 R 35 I learn best in a cooperative 1 5 environment. LIST 84 PC 84 Name up to three aspects of this class that you most enjoy: 1. 2. 3. 271 Srig <22? eta Q SA A N D SD # 85 PC 85 Name up to three aspects of this class that you least enjoy: 1. 2. 3. PLEASE INDICATE THE FOLLOWING BY CIRCLING ONE OR BY WRITING THE ANSWER IN THE BLANK: 85 DEM 86 Class level: FRI 302 JR3 SR4 87 DEM 87 Gender: F 1 M 2 88 DEM 88 Citizenship: U.S. Canadian Other: 3 1 2 89 DEM 89 Age: 272 Appendix 0 Student Survey on Motivation and Activity Preferences (Actual) Please indicate for each item your level of agreement or disagreement according to the following key: 1 = strongly agree 2 = agree 3 = neither agree nor disagree 4 = disagree 5 = strongly disagree 0 SA A N D SD Language Study 1 Studying Spanish is important because it will 1 2 3 4 5 allow me to interact with people who speak it. 2 lwould like to Ieam several foreign 1 2 3 4 5 languages. 3 Studying foreign languages is an important 1 2 3 4 5 part of education. 4 Imainly study Spanish to satisfy the university 1 2 3 4 5 language requirement. 5 Spanish is important to me because it will 1 2 3 4 5 broaden my worldview. 6 Increasing my proficiency in Spanish will have 1 2 3 4 5 financial benefits for me. 7 lwant to Ieam Spanish because it is important 1 2 3 4 5 to show my ability to others. 8 Iarn Ieaming Spanish to understand films, 1 2 3 4 5 273 Appendix 0 (cont.) videos, or music. 9 I would take this class even if it were not required. 10 Being able to speak Spanish will add to my social status. 11 I enjoy using Spanish outside class whenever I have a chance. 12 When class ends, I often wish that we could confinue. 13 When I am in class, I often think that I would rather be doing something else. (reverse coded) 14 What I Ieam in this class will help me in other courses. 15 I like the subject matter of this course. 16 It is important to me to Ieam the course material in this class. 17 It is most important to me to do my best in this class. 18 Singing songs in class makes me enjoy the Spanish language more. Society 19 I believe that all immigrants to the U.S. should Ieam English. 20 I want to be more a part of the cultural group that speaks Spanish. 21 I believe that every U. S. citizen should Ieam a second language. 274 —L —L —L 22 23 24 25 Appendix 0 (cont.) I enjoy meeting and interacting with people from many cultures. Spanish is an important language in North American society. All North Americans should Ieam to communicate in a second language. Knowing a second language should not be necessary in this country. (reverse coded) Relationships 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 My family believes that everyone should know a second language. I am Ieaming Spanish to be able to communicate with relatives who speak it. Spanish is important to me because it is part of my cultural heritage. My relationship with the other students in this class is important to me. My family believes it is important for me to be able to communicate in a second language. Singing together in class brings the class closer as a group. My family believes that all immigrants to the U.S. should Ieam English. I am Ieaming Spanish to be able to communicate with friends who speak it. I have a personal attachment to Spanish as part of my identity. I Ieam best in a cooperative environment. 275 SA SA SO SO ll 36 37 38 39 40 Appendix 0 (cont.) Most of my friends think that Ieaming a second language is important. Some of the members of my family are fluent in a second language. I know more names of fellow students in this class than I do in my other classes. I don’t feel like I’m very close to other students in this class. (reverse coded) Singing songs of faith in Spanish makes me feel united with others in the class. Opinions 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 Speaking Spanish in class makes me feel nervous. I enjoy this class more when we sing. I especially enjoy listening to songs in class that have a “Iatino” beat. I really enjoy learning Spanish. I am worried about my ability to do well in this class. (reverse coded) Singing in class makes me feel more comfortable. I often feel lazy or bored when I study for this class. (reverse coded) I feel more tense and nervous in this class than I do in my other classes. I work hard in this class even when I don’t like what we are doing. 276 SA SA SD SD 50 51 52 53 Appendix 0 (cont.) I feel anxious when we sing in Spanish in class. (reverse coded) I don’t like language Ieaming. (reverse coded) I feel uncomfortable when I have to speak in this class. I rarely have difficulty concentrating in this class. (reverse coded) Class Activities 54 55 56 57 58 59 6O 61 62 63 Even when the class materials are dull and uninteresting, I always finish my work. I like being able to choose the songs that we sing in class. Singing in Spanish is a valuable class activity. I especially enjoy singing the songs of faith. I especially enjoy singing the songs of culture. My language class is a challenge that I enjoy. I find my language class boring. (reverse coded) Singing in Spanish seems to me a waste of class time. (reverse coded) I don’t worry about making mistakes when speaking Spanish in front of this class. (reverse coded) Singing Spanish songs in class makes this class more enjoyable. I really like singing songs that have familiar 277 SA SA SD SD 65 Appendix 0 (cont.) tunes. I really like Ieaming songs that are new. Skills 66 67 68 69 70 71 72 73 74 75 76 78 I like this class more when we listen to Hispanic music. I am good at grammar. Singing in class helps me improve my Spanish pronunciation. I believe I will receive an excellent grade in this class. I Ieam Spanish grammar from the singing in class. Sometimes after we sing in class, the words play back in my head. I’m certain I can master the skills being taught in this class. Singing in class helps me improve my speaking ability. I can imitate the sounds of this language very well. I Ieam Spanish grammar from listening to songs in class. In general, I am an exceptionally good language Ieamer. Singing in class helps me improve my listening ability. I can guess the meanings of new vocabulary words very well. 278 SA SD SD 79 80 81 82 83 Appendix O (cont.) SA A N I can truly put my best effort into Ieaming 1 2 3 Spanish. Sometimes I remember specific words or 1 2 3 phrases from songs we sing in class. I enjoy making up words to familiar tunes in 1 2 3 class. Writing words to familiar tunes is too difficult 1 2 3 at this level. (REVERSE CODED) When course work is difficult, I either give up 1 2 3 or only study the easy parts. (reverse coded) List or circle the correct response: 34 85 86 87 88 89 Name up to three aspects of this class that you most enjoy: 1. 2. 3. Name up to three aspects of this class that you least enjoy: 1. 2. 3. Class level: FR1 SO2 JR3 Gender: F 1 M 2 Citizenship: U.S. 1 Canadian 2 Other: 3 DSD SR4 Age: 279 Appendix P Interview Protocol for Students Opening statement: Thank you for agreeing to be interviewed for this project. While I want to make efficient use of this time together, I also want to allow you time to think about the questions without being fearful of the quiet. If you don ’t understand a particular question, it’s OK to ask for clarification. While the interview itself will be open-ended, I plan to pursue the following topics: 1. P 9N?!" Would you tell me a little bit about your L2 Ieaming history? When did you begin? How easy/difficult was it for you? Did you struggle with any specific aspects? Was there anything in particular that you enjoyed about language Ieaming? What most affected your initial attitude toward Ieaming a second language? How would you describe your attitude at the beginning of your L2 study? Why did you choose the language you did? Why did you sign up for the course? What fears did you have about Ieaming a second language? about being in a FL classroom? Were there certain language skills that caused more fear in you than others? Why? Why do you (or do you not) want to Ieam a second language? When do you feel most apprehensive in FL class? What makes you feel apprehensive? When do you feel least apprehensive in FL class? What makes you feel less apprehensive? How has your level of motivation to Ieam Spanish as a second language changed during this semester? Why? What has affected your motivation? How would you describe the level of motivation you have now toward Ieaming a second language compared to what it was when you first took an L2 class? What has affected your motivation toward Ieaming an L2? 10. Could you tell me some of the activities from this semester that were most helpful to you in building specific language skills: - speaking skills? Why? reading skills? Why? writing skills? Why? speaking skills? Why? pronunciation skills? Why? willingness to voice the language? Why? - grammar? Why? 11.Which class activities made you most feel like participating in Spanish? Why? 12.Which class activities made you feel least like participating in Spanish? Why? 13.Which activities most helped you feel connected to the group/feel like you belonged? Why? 14.Which activities most helped build a sense of community in the classroom? Why? 280 Appendix P (cont.) 15.Which activities most helped you build a bridge to the target culture? (or helped prepare you to feel at ease in the target culture?) 16. We used various types of music activities throughout the semester. Could you tell me which activities you enjoyed the most and why? singing? composing song lyrics? listening? 17.What types of music activities do you feel were most helpful to your language Ieaming and why? In what specific ways did they help your language Ieaming? 18. What effect do you think the music activities used in this class had on your attitude this semester? on your motivation to Ieam the language? on your enjoyment of the course? on your willingness to use your oral skills? 19. Was there ever a time when the music from a class activity stayed with you after leaving class? When? What activity? Why do you think that is?. 20. Are there any ways that the use of music in the Spanish class has influenced your attitude, motivation, interest, or identity with the L2 or C2? 21 .Was there any difference in your enjoyment or motivation to participate for songs of culture vs. songs of faith? 22. Was there any difference in your enjoyment or motivation to participate for songs with familiar tunes vs. songs with unfamiliar tunes? 23. Did you have any favorite songs? Why? 24. Did you ever choose songs during class singing? Why or why not? 281 Appendix CI Interview Sign Up Letter December 12, 2002 Dear Spanish 201 student, Thank you for consenting to participate in the interview portion of this research study. Since I do not have access to the information of which students have consented to participate in the study (for research confidentiality reasons), the department secretary is sending you this letter and will be contacting you soon to set up an interview appointment. Interviews will last about an hour (I don’t plan to go longer than that) and should take place either the week after fall semester exams are completed (beginning December 18, any time during the day) or the first five days of interim (only aftemoon times are available). Please look over the schedule below to decide which times might work for you. Only the department secretary will know who is scheduled for interviews until I have submitted grades for this class to the registrar. I will ask you again at the time of the interview whether you consent to participate in the various aspects of the interview format. Once again, thank you for your help in this study. I appreciate your time and your insights. Sincerely, Marcie J. Pyper Monday, 17 Tuesday, 18 Wed., 19 Thursday, Friday, 21 Dec. Dec. Dec. 20 Dec. Dec. 9:00 am. 1 1 :00 am. 1:00 pm. Friday, 4 Monday, 7 Tuesday, 8 Wed., 9 Jan. Thursday, Jan 02 Jan. Jan. 10 Jan. 2:00 pm. 282 Appendix R Cell Numbers Containing Student Responses Regarding Motivation for L2 Learning (Sorted by Code) Requirement Grades Utilitarian External - Motivation S1 223 223 GPA 274 non-util. 278 just 274 276 282 travel? want to get it 275 HS. 255 test 283 util. done 277 college 82 251 256 interest 258 + peer 249 am.— 253 260 Mex. 259 teacher good act. exp. enthusiasm 291 UtiVNon- 284 284 Dad: interest?? util. S3 268 231 GPA 216 teacher 216 233 enthus. 230 235 236 peer 280 friends percept. 239 teacher/act. 257 music S4 215 238 237 minor? 240 am. 248 a.m.—no 245 293 248 motivation participation understand 292 adults: grade Sp. take Span. Speakers 298 Mom: 296 encouraged customers? FL SS 272 HS. 263 247 peer 218 273 college speak/listen pressure 219 impossibility of FL 283 Appendix S Consistency of Responses to Listening Activities by Student Code Most Helpful Student 1 15 1 82 204 228 250 300 469 593 722 724 o \I —L 3mm”--m-m--- Frequencies Least Helpful 783 802 820 947 —L on V SIMN-dNQN-LN-LNCD-LwODMNN-L-L-eN-L-LANNMNNOOM Frequencies: 284 Most Participate Student 1 15 1 26 1 58 1 87 204 208 225 228 250 254 267 289 333 404 593 604 722 724 789 802 d—LNN—LM—Ld-‘NNN‘A—l-A-Am—A—A Frequencies N on Least Participate Student 020' 106* 112* 126 182’ 187' 254' 289‘ 311‘ 339* 357‘ 456’ 516' 579 647‘ 730' 783' 820‘ fidmmmm—Ld—me-L-L-LM-mew Frequencies *responded similarly to both LH and LP Appendix T Singing Responses by Student Code Helpful Participate Most Least Most Least 469 001 +/- 001 113 593 071 +/- 071 122 783 108 +/- 126 204 113 +/- 158 228 n = 3 122 184 311 3 126 +/- 225 357 6.3% 1 87 300 647 225 +/— 333 730 254 456 267 579 300 593 n = 8 311 604 8 357 628 16.7% 456 715 508 +/- 722 579 783 628 950 647 730 n = 17 820 17 947 +/- 35.4% 21 students (8 +/-) 21 43.8% reasons for LH relevance 7 difficulty 4 morning 3 no indication 7 21 BY TYPE OF RESPONSE FOR LH (+ PARTICIPATION RESPONSES) +/. 001 MP 071 MP 108 113 LP 126 MP 225 MP 508 947 NO INDICATION 001 MP 071 MP 108 225 MP 300 MP 456 MP 508 RELEVANCE 106 113 LP 126 MP 311 LP 357 LP 579 MP 647 LP 947 285 DIFFICULTY AM. 122 LP 254 A 187 730 B LP 267 820 A 628 MP m:o_5:_m>m $20 :0 mowcoomom 5.2, >o>.:m 5...... So: 650 oEom 5 comnmoEoo 3 x.ncooa< 286 Motivation Questionnaire: Question Number and Mean by Category Appendix V category Gil mean 23 2.04 24 3.04 Social 25 2-79 Context 30 3_19 36 3.17 37 3.64 1 9 1 .91 Ethno- 21 3.00 Centrism 26 3.42 32 2.70 1 8 2.38 41 2.74 42 2.45 46 2.60 50 3.72 Pedagogical 55 2.60 Context 56 2.62 61 3.57 63 2.38 66 2.77 81 3.66 82 2.85 43 2.49 Types Of 57 2.38 songs 58 2.58 64 2.09 65 2.92 68 2.77 70 3.68 Skill Building 73 2'89 75 3.64 77 2.64 31 2.79 Group 3 2.98 Cohesion 39 2.91 40 2.91 category 01f mean 1 2.23 Intzaglaiive 20 3'1 9 orientation 27 4-51 33 4.04 2 3.55 Value: Interest in 3 2.53 FL and FC 5 2.66 22 1.85 Value: FL Requirement 4 2,23 Value: Heritage 28 4.70 Language 34 4.55 V l . 6 3.15 Instrlez-ntal 7 3'72 orientation 3 3.93 10 3.49 9 3.72 11 2.94 12 4.09 Value: Intrinsic 13 2.60 Motivation 44 2.87 51 3.11 59 3.09 60 3.30 Value: Task 14 3'04 va'ue 1 5 2.89 16 2.32 Expectancy: 45 2'04 Expectancy 69 3-70 72 2.75 48 2.87 Expectancy: 52 2.74 “may 53 3.08 62 3.51 Etapectancw 67 3.48 A3352? 74 2.50 76 3.62 287 Appendix V (cont.) Din 71 2.55 78 3.02 80 2.58 17 1.85 Ex ta . 47 2.64 P“ 49 Strength 54 2.89 79 2.60 83 3.43 Cooperative- 29 2.47 "”3 35 2.40 288 Appendix W All Question Items with Significant Correlations with DIN Questions all 071 080 Question content . It is important to me to learn the course material in this a 16 '.28 I o c ass. 'g 48 - 36“ I feel more tense and nervous in this class than I do in '27 ' mLother classes 3 49 _ 32,, I work hard in this class even when I don’t like what we 3 ' are doing. > 33 50 -.32’ -.34‘ I feel anxious when we sing in Spanish in class. 9 Z 61 -.35‘ -.59“ Singing in Spanish seems to me a waste of class time. 82 -.36“ 439.. :Nriting words to familiar tunes IS too difficult at this _ evel. - total 4 - 5 - 18 39,, 57,, Singing songs in class makes me enjoy the Spanish ' ' language more. 22 28* I enjoy meeting and interacting with people from many ' cultures. 31 .45., ‘53,, Singing together in class brings the class closer as a group. 40 45,, 47,, Singing songs of faith in Spanish makes me feel ' ' united with others in the class 42 .44“ .55“ I enjoy this class more when we sing. 43 32. ‘51,, I especially enjoy listening to songs in class that have a ' ' a Latino beat. ,5 46 .29‘ .54“ Singing in class makes me feel more comfortable. % ,, I like being able to choose the songs that we sing in t 55 .45 ' o c ass. 0 g 56 .31‘ .65“ Singing in Spanish is a valuable class activity. 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