Date

9-2018

Department

School of Education

Degree

Doctor of Education (EdD)

Chair

William Gribbin

Keywords

Foreign Language Learning, Foreign Language Tutoring, Required Tutoring, Second Language Acquisition, Spanish Tutoring, Tutoring Effectiveness

Disciplines

Bilingual, Multilingual, and Multicultural Education | Education | Educational Assessment, Evaluation, and Research | Educational Methods

Abstract

Foreign language pedagogy is currently pushing for a more communicative approach to teaching learners practical language skills (Jones, Squires, and Hicks, 2008). Students want to develop language skills they can use in their careers and everyday lives; consequently, professors are integrating learning methods that make the language classroom more practical and applicable to students’ needs. One potentially invaluable tool in the language-learning process is requiring students to complete a specific number of target-language peer tutoring hours. This study examines the correlations among three variables: the number of tutoring hours students complete, their numerical final course grades, and their scores on the ACTFL Assessment of Performance toward Proficiency in Languages (AAPPL) instrument (AAPPL, n.d.a). The Pearson’s r tested the correlations between the number of tutoring hours completed and students’ final course grades, as well as number of tutoring hours and students’ performance on the AAPPL. Additionally, the Spearman r analyzed the correlations among the number of tutoring hours and students’ scores on the AAPPL. The results of the study showed a significant correlation between tutoring hours and final course grades; however, there was no statistically significant relationship between tutoring hours and students’ performance on the AAPPL assessment.

Download

Share

COinS