How Does an International Spanish Academy (ISA) Bilingual Program Affect the Motivation for Students to Take Four Years of Spanish Classes Instead of the Customary Two Years?

Author(s)

Frank MaddenFollow

Date

2-2018

Department

School of Education

Degree

Doctor of Education (EdD)

Chair

Grania G. Holman

Keywords

Bilingual Education, Foreign Language Education, International Spanish Academy

Disciplines

Bilingual, Multilingual, and Multicultural Education | Curriculum and Social Inquiry | Education | Educational Psychology | Other Education

Recommended Citation

Madden, Frank, "How Does an International Spanish Academy (ISA) Bilingual Program Affect the Motivation for Students to Take Four Years of Spanish Classes Instead of the Customary Two Years?" (2018). Doctoral Dissertations and Projects. 1644.
https://digitalcommons.liberty.edu/doctoral/1644

Abstract

The purpose of this explanatory multi-case study was to determine how an International Spanish Academy (ISA) bilingual education model affects motivation for students to take four years of Spanish classes instead of the customary two years. The study involved three groups of Georgia public high school students currently enrolled in Spanish II classes in schools that did not include an ISA program. There is a growing trend across the United States to drop the world language requirement for high school graduation (National Council of State Supervisors for Languages (NCSSFL), 2016). Because of this national trend, a phenomenon exists among Georgia high school students not to take Spanish classes for four years (G. Barfield, personal communication, January 3, 2016). The work of social psychologist and second language motivation expert Robert Gardner (2006) guided this study. His socio-educational model addressed various factors that influence a person’s motivation to learn a second language, and these factors influenced this study’s research question: How does an ISA bilingual program affect the motivation for students to take four years of Spanish classes instead of the customary two years. Three specific groups of Georgia public high school Spanish II students were surveyed, and a select sample of the respondents of the survey questionnaire at each school participated in focus groups to determine their perspective. Data collected from this study were analyzed through a process of transcription, coding, and theme identification using QDA Miner Lite. The study found that the participants who could see the future benefits of participating in an ISA program were motivated and the ones who could not see the future benefits of the program were not motivated students to take four years of Spanish instead of the customary two years.