A pilot study was designed to examine student perspectives on the first two years of the foreign language program at an east coast college. The study addresses key areas of foreign language teaching and learning in terms of goals and objectives, effectiveness of instruction and instructional approach, and student suggestions for improvement. The survey's findings indicate that the program generally meets the needs and interests of the students; however, these findings call for a clearer articulation of program goals in culture and careful review of some instructional methods. They also reveal critical differences in learning priorities and learning styles between students in commonly taught languages and those in less commonly taught languages. This article discusses plausible explanations for the survey findings and makes recommendations for program improvement.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.