Bilingual, Multilingual, and Multicultural Education Commons^™

Does An Early Second Language Immersion Experience Impact Student Motivation?, Fang Chen

Masters Theses/Capstone Projects

The aim of this study was to determine how an early immersion second language (L2)school experience might impact students’ motivation to learn the target language. The study was conducted in a Spanish Immersion Academy in the Columbus City (Ohio)school district. Students were surveyed about their motivation for learning Spanish. Three K-3 classes were observed and students’ engagement in different kinds of instruction was recorded. Teachers were interviewed in an effort to obtain their views on motivating students. The data collected suggest that learning motivation was highly valued by teachers in the school. Teachers generally reported trends in learner motivation that …