Abstract
This study seeks to understand the motivation of less commonly taught language (LCTL) students and compare their profile to the students of one commonly taught language (CTL), Spanish. The study asked what factors influence student enrollment and continuing in their language program. The data were collected in a survey of 420 students of Spanish, Arabic, Slavic, Altaic, Niger-Congo, and other languages at a large Midwest university unit with a foreign language requirement. The results supplement recent large-scale research of world language enrollment studies at U.S. universities (Murphy et al., 2021, 2022; Van Gorp et al., 2021) with a focus on small LCTLs. Both personal interest and future career goals motivate the study of LCTLs, whereas academic career (fulfillment of program requirements) motivates enrolment in Spanish. The study has implications for language program administrators and K-16 educators by providing insight into what motivates initial enrolment and persistence with enrolment in higher level courses. Specific target strategies developed through the results of this study could be used in advising, recruiting, and retaining L2 students in colleges.
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Acknowledgements
This study was supported by Hamilton Lugar School faculty research grant to both authors. Author contributions: Crum – original idea and design, instrument, data collection, data entry, statistical analysis, result write up, and final draft. Kivik – assistance with data collection and preparation for analysis, literature review, and final draft. The authors thank all participating language programs and instructors for access to their students.
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Appendix The Questionnaire Items
Appendix The Questionnaire Items
Likert Scale: Strongly Disagree 1 Disagree 2 Neutral 3 Agree 4 Strongly Agree 5
For Introductory students, questions 1–9 and 20–25.
The reason I’m studying this language is because:
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1. It is a requirement for my major.
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2. It is a requirement for my minor.
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3. It meets my foreign language requirement.
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4. Personal interest.
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4a Please provide additional information on any personal interest:
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5. Career interest.
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5a Please provide additional information on any career interest:
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6. Future travel and/or study abroad.
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7. I’m interested in the language and culture of this language
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8. I’m interested in the literature of this language
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9. Are you planning on continuing with additional study? Yes No
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9a. If yes, please explain why.
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9b. If no, please explain why.
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For Intermediate and beyond students, answer questions 9–22.
The reason I’m continuing my studies in this language is because:
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9. I became more interested in the language and culture after I started studying it.
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10. It helps me to remain in contact with people I met through studying the language.
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11. It is required for my major.
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12. It is required for my minor.
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13. I’m doing well, so I thought I would continue.
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14. I want to become more proficient.
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15. I need to take a second year of the language to fulfil a requirement other than for a major.
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16. I believe that having more language proficiency will be useful for graduate study.
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17. I believe that having more language proficiency will be useful for my career objectives.
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18. I am preparing to study abroad or another experience in a country where this language is spoken.
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19. I’m interested in literature of this language
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20. Are you planning to continue your studies in this language? Yes No
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20a. If yes, please explain why.
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20b. If no, please explain why.
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21. What level of proficiency do you ultimately wish to attain in this language? (Circle only one)
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a. I just want a general idea of how the language and/or culture works.
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b. I want to be able to have short everyday conversations with native speakers of this language.
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c. I want to be a fluent and/or literate second/language user of this language.
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d. I want to be as close to native-speaker ability as possible.
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e. I just want to fulfill the foreign language requirement.
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f. I want to read literary texts.
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22. What level of proficiency do you expect to attain in this language by completing your studies in the IU languageprogram? (Circle only one)
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a. I expect to gain a general idea of how the language and/or culture works.
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b. I expect to be able to have short everyday conversations with native speakers of this language.
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c. I expect to be a fluent and/or literate second/language user of this language.
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d. I expect to become as or almost as proficient as a native-speaker.
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e. I just want to fulfill the foreign language requirement.
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f. I expect to read literary texts.
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23. What is your major field of study? (Circle only one)
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a. Science, Technology, or Engineering
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b. Business
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c. Medical/Public Health
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d. Humanities, Communication or Social Sciences
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e. Undecided
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f. Other (Please specify):
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24. How did you find out classes in this language you are currently studying? Circle one.
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a. high school advisor
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b. college advisor
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c. professors
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d. [college] website
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e. friend who has studied/is studying that language
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f. college recruitment day
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g. flyers at [college]
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h. class visitors promoting foreign languages
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i. [college] language promotion events (/…/ Expo, workshops, Global Village, etc) ______________ (please specify)
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Crum, S., Kivik, PK. (2023). Motivational Factors Affecting Language Student Enrollment and Retention in Higher Education. In: Heidrich Uebel, E., Kronenberg, F.A., Sterling, S. (eds) Language Program Vitality in the United States. Educational Linguistics, vol 63. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-43654-3_9
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