Prior Instruction, Equivalency Formulas, and Functional Proficiency: Examining the Problem of Secondary School‐College Articulation

This study considered true beginners and false beginners in first‐semester university French and Spanish classes to: (a) determine whether true beginners and false beginners differ in anxiety, grades, and plans to continue language study; and (b) identify classroom factors that foster anxiety or comfort. Students completed a questionnaire that included the Foreign Language Classroom Anxiety Scale (Horwitz, Horwitz, & Cope, 1986), MacIntyre and Gardner Anxiety Subscales (1989, 1994), demographic information, grade expectations, and open‐ended questions. Randomly selected students were interviewed about their experiences in the courses. Statistical analyses revealed that (a) although neither group was terribly anxious, true beginners were significantly more anxious overall and during processing and output stages than false beginners; (b) true beginners expected and received lower grades than false beginners; and (c) significantly more true beginners than false beginners planned to continue studying the language. Comments on one written open‐ended question and in the interviews pointed to the key role of the instructor in reducing anxiety.

Section: Anxiety and Foreign Language Studymentioning

confidence: 94%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Anxiety and the True Beginner-False Beginner Dynamic in Beginning French and Spanish Classes

Frantzen

Magnan

2005

“…Tests assessing reading and listening proficiency often have multiplechoice items allowing for the evaluation of large numbers of students (See the Test de Franpis International, Educational Testing Service, 2002). Previous Cronbachs alpha coefficients for the listening and reading proficiency tests have ranged from .70 to .90 (Lange, Prior, & Sims, 1992). Cronbachs alpha coefficients for the listening and reading proficiency tests were .75 and .79 respectively.…”

Section: Instrumentationmentioning

confidence: 96%

A Reevaluation of the Role of Anxiety: Self-Efficacy, Anxiety, and Their Relation to Reading and Listening Proficiency

Mills

Pajares

Herron

2006

276

225

Research findings from several academic domains have demonstrated that students' judgments of their own academic capabilities, or self‐efficacy beliefs, influ ence their academic behaviors and performances. Absent from this body of research are studies assessing self‐efficacy beliefs and their relation to foreign language proficiency. Informed by the tenets of Bandura's (1986) social cognitive theory, the purpose ofthis study was to examine the relationship between self‐efficacy, anxiety, and French profi ciency in reading and listening. Students' reading self‐efficacy in French was positively related to reading proficiency, whereas reading anxiety was not related. Listening self‐efficacy was positively associated with listening proficiency only for the female participants, and listening anxiety was positively related to the listening proficiency of both males and females. lrnplications for researchers and educators are discussed.

“…However, few studies (e.g., Hacking & Tschirner, 2017;Winke & Gass, 2018) have sought to explain the factors that influence university proficiency outcomes, or to characterize the makeup of the university classroom itself, particularly with regard to students' previous experience with the target language. While previous work has explored how proficient learners are upon completion of pre-university language education (see, e.g., Davin, Rempert, & Hammerand, 2014;Lange, Prior, & Sims, 1992;Moeller & Theiler, 2014), it is equally-if not more-pressing for university language programs to understand if and how pre-university experience continues, during the courses that are needed to complete a university language requirement or over the course of an entire program of study, to influence proficiency outcomes. Furthermore, pre-university experience may influence course enrollment itself, particularly at levels beyond a 2-year language requirement, with students more or less likely to complete language major and minor course sequences depending on the nature and extent of such exposure.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…This factor is especially relevant given that university language programs must address articulation and placement issues. Seeking to account for the effect of high school language study ("years of prior instruction" [YPI]) on proficiency, Lange et al (1992) analyzed the university placement tests of 3,523 students of Spanish, French, and German. Tests designed to accord with the ACTFL Proficiency Guidelines were administered in reading, listening, and writing, and were graded on a pass/fail basis.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Lasting effects of pre‐university language exposure on undergraduate proficiency

Strawbridge

Soneson

Griffith

2019

The present study analyzes the effects of two variables on the proficiency development of 907 university students of Spanish and French: years of high school experience; and level of initial placement into university language study. A 3‐year grant‐funded project administered ACTFL proficiency tests in reading, listening, and speaking to students enrolled at the fourth‐, sixth‐, and eighth‐semester curricular levels. Results showed that both of these aspects of pre‐university experience exert an important influence on proficiency ratings throughout the curriculum and that this effect is especially acute in the case of initial language placement. The findings reveal the lasting importance of pre‐university language learning experience, for students completing required coursework as well as for language majors, and are discussed in terms of their implications for university language curricula.