Maintaining the Momentum of Students of Spanish from High School to College

The presence and absence of race in world language education literature

“…While recent data have shown an increase in racially minoritized students taking the AP exam (Brown & Thompson, 2020; Dolci, 2020), Black students in particular were found to be less likely to complete AP exams (Brown & Thompson, 2016). Black students were also less likely to be enrolled in languages perceived as more difficult, such as Chinese (Burkhauser et al, 2016) and less likely to continue WL study through all 4 years of high school (Minert, 1992) and through high school into college (Pratt, 2010). These disparities in access to WL learning opportunities are not due to individual student ability but instead highlight systemic structures that reinforce “inequities based on racial … differences” (Vélez‐Rendón, 2010, p. 646).…”

Spanish students’ perceptions of how they demonstrate their teachers’ positive impact on them to maintain their interest

“…Barnwell (2008) reported that one out of three high school students who began to study Spanish discontinued it in a year, two out of three discontinued after the second year, and 90% dropped it before they reached the fourth year, meaning that most students discontinued the study of Spanish before they acquired communicative competence, or "worthwhile proficiency" as he described it (p. 236). Howard (2007), Pratt (2010Pratt ( , 2012, and Pratt and Rodríguez García (2022) also reported that the ratio of elementary to advanced Spanish in college was 5:1, meaning that for several years, out of every five students who study elementary Spanish, only one continues to advanced Spanish. The effect of these trends on the university degrees conferred is disconcerting.…”

“…While some of the causes of the discontinuation of the study of Spanish are dependent on administrative, political, ideological, and other external factors that have received some attention in the literature, the focus of this investigation is on the dimension that relates to classroombased issues. In this regard, loss of motivation has been at the forefront due to the demonstrated relevance of motivational theories to the study of foreign languages, with particular reference to intrinsic, integrative, extrinsic, and instrumental motivations (Bateman & de Almeida Oliveira, 2014;Busse & Walter, 2013;Clément et al, 1994;Deci & Ryan, 1985;Deci et al, 1991;Dörnyei, 1990;Dos Santos, 2021;Gallardo-del-Puerto & Blanco-Suárez, 2021;Gardner & Lambert, 1959;Gardner et al, 1979;Kelm, 2017;Kormos & Csizér, 2008;Myers, 1978;Noels et al, 2000;Pratt, 2010Pratt, , 2012Pratt et al, 2009;Ramage, 1990;Skehan, 1989). Teachers' target-language proficiency and instructional abilities have also captured substantial attention due to the ample literature pointing to deficiencies in the preparation of teachers, the low targetlanguage proficiency levels among teachers, instructional incompetence, and inappropriate curricula (Barreneche, 2011;Egnatz, 2017;Hlas, 2016;Kissau et al, 2022;Leonard & Bonilla, 2022;Pearson et al, 2006;Pratt, 2018;Pratt & Rodríguez Garcia, 2022;Salvadores Merino, 2019;Swanson, 2010Swanson, , 2014Van Patten & Simonsen, 2022;Vyn et al, 2019;Ziemann, 2016).…”

“…The literature also emphasizes the importance of the teacher-student dynamic for continuance, but its focus has been limited. Thus far, it has centered on the development of positive interactions and understanding, positing that it is more likely that students will continue studying Spanish if the student-teacher relationship is positive (Henry & Thorsen, 2018;Moore, 2005;Moskowitz, 1976;Moskowitz et al, 2022;Papalia & Zampogna, 1972;Pratt, 2010Pratt, , 2023Speiller, 1988;Tinto, 1975;Wei et al, 2009;Wesely, 2010). While this aspect of the student-teacher dynamic has captured attention over a long period of time, there is a dearth of research on another aspect of the dynamic that plays a central role in students' decision-making processes and must be explored thoroughly, in order to ensure that Spanish educators are not in the dark in terms of what indicators to look for to ensure that their students will continue to study the language.…”

“…Pratt (2023) investigated Spanish teachers' perceptions about their ability to impact their students positively to keep them interested in the language, and reported that the student behaviors that the teachers believed indicated to them that they were succeeding in maintaining the students' interest in Spanish were their interest in their classes and the language, their motivation toward the language, their feedback, the teacher-student relationships, and the students' engagement in classroom activities and academic success. However, teachers' perceptions of students' intentions have been questionable due to significant disparities that have been reported by many studies (Horwitz, 2000;Papalia & Zampogna, 1972;Pratt, 2010;Pratt et al, 2009), which have called for some sort of meeting of the minds so that teachers and students can be on the same page. In view of this, the study recommended that there should be a follow-up study involving students to investigate their perceptions and determine where they coincide with the teachers and what the differences are.…”