A case study of River Falls High School students enrolled in Spanish III and IV

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to determine if individuals who study the Spanish language in the middle school were more likely to continue studying Spanish in secondary and post secondary institutions and whether these students were more likely to choose a career involving use or knowledge of the Spanish language. The subjects for this study were high school students enrolled in Spanish III and IV at River Falls High School. Each student began their study of the Spanish language at the middle school level. All subjects were provided with an overview of the study which described their involvement in this study. Their participation was voluntary and all subjects remained anonymous. Each subject was required by the School District of River Falls and UW-Stout to obtain permission from a parent or guardian to participate in this study. The instrumentation for this study consisted of a survey with several items. Subjects were asked to circle the grade level in which they began learning Spanish in their educational career. Subjects were asked to circle the amount of years they have studied Spanish in their secondary education, meaning high school years. Subjects were then asked to state their future educational and career intentions and how Spanish may be involved. The survey was developed specifically for this study to survey high school students in their Spanish language learning experience. Data was collected during the Fall semester of the 2001 school year and analyzed to test the null hypothesis: There will no relationship between acquisition of the Spanish language at the middle school level and secondary study and career selection.