While many students in a foreign language classroom are successful at learning the prescribed curriculum, they may never move beyond the grammar and vocabulary to experience transformative learning. On the other hand, students who do not achieve proficiency may experience a perspective transformation as a result of studying a foreign language. This study examines the experiences of three adult women who completed two semesters of a college level Spanish course. Data were collected through the Learning Activities Survey and interviews. Results showed participants experienced perspective transformation in three areas: 1) identified with Hispanic cultures, 2) increased awareness of diversity, and 3) became aware of ethnocentricity. Three types of classroom activities appeared to make significant contributions to perspective transformation: 1) meeting native speakers, 2) collaborative learning, and 3) viewing and analysing films. IntroductionA typical course description for second-semester, college Spanish might include statements about students demonstrating mastery of the present and past verb tenses, the four language skills (listening, speaking, reading, writing) and cultural concepts. These foundational concepts are reiterated in the syllabus and in the course assessments. However, despite the undeniable importance of learning the content, this knowledge is only the beginning of learning for many adult students. There are other kinds of learning that take place in a foreign language class when students are confronted with a language and culture different from their own. Studying a foreign language can be a transformative experience.Few college students who study foreign language go on to attain linguistic proficiency (Malone, Rifkin, Christian, & Johnson, 2005). A survey of foreign language enrolments in the United States (Furman, Goldberg, & Lusin, 2007) revealed that while 8.6% of postsecondary enrolments were in foreign language courses, only 1.4% of those enrolments were in advanced courses. The large majority of the students studying foreign language in American post-secondary institutions are not majors studying advanced content courses, but rather students taking elementary and intermediate language courses to fulfil degree requirements or for other reasons.As part of the general education requirement for college and university students in the United States, elementary Spanish courses tend to value certain types of learning experiences over others. In order to make good grades in a Spanish class, students must demonstrate factual knowledge, such as the vocabulary and grammar. While many students are successful at learning the facts, not all of those students move beyond the grammar and vocabulary to experience deeper, transformative learning. There are also students who never achieve proficiency in foreign language yet experience a meaningful perspective transformation as a result of studying foreign language.Through this study, we will tell the stories of three adult students who experienced transformati...
A study was conducted to investigate how the interaction of race, gender, and class impacted lives of African American women and strategies they used to overcome these three barriers. Six African American women from various socioeconomic, educational, and professional backgrounds holding supervisory positions were interviewed. The findings did not support the expected interactive effects of race, gender, and class as an impediment to upward mobility. All six participants cited gender as the major obstacle to their progress.
This interview study describes the role that participation in the Institute for Faculty Excellence in Judicial Education (IFEJE) played in the personal and professional development of four judges. Judicial education is a relatively new field of adult and continuing professional education. There is limited literature devoted to this area of study outside of the arena of substantive legal or judging topics. Interviews served as the primary data source for this study along with program evaluations, photographs, and e-mail correspondence from Institute participants. The findings revealed that the combined safe environment, challenges, and support participants experienced at the Institute and learning about adult learning helped them: feel less isolated in their work; stretch their normal work boundaries resulting in the completion of projects for which they had great passion; and benefited them as judges, supervisors, teachers, and in other social relationships.
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