MIDDLE SCHOOL PHILOSOPHY AND 2ND-LANGUAGE ACQUISITION THEORY - WORKING TOGETHER FOR ENHANCED PROFICIENCY

Many Florida middle schools offer to eighth graders a year-long Spanis h / course identical to that at the high school level. Foreign languag e educators hove frequently questioned whether middle school Spanish I students, whose school setting differs greatly from that of the high school, achieve language proficiency equivalent to that of high school Spanish I students. This study was conducted to determine the effects of school affiliation on the level of language competency attained by Spanish I students. Competency in all four language skills-listening comprehension, writing, reading comprehension, and oral production-was measured by a Spanish I Exam. Differences between the two groups in a ttitude toward foreign language learning were also examined. The subje cts in this study were 107 middle school eighth graders and 57 high sc hool ninth graders enrolled in Spanish I classes in four Florida schoo l districts. The Spanish I Exam was administered as a pretest at the b eginning of the 1992-93 school year and as a posttest at the end of th e school year. A Foreign Language Attitude Questionnaire was also give n at the end of the school year. The teachers were instructed to condu ct their classes as usual for the duration of the school year. Data on socioeconomic status (SES) and GPA, variables that might influence pe rformance on the posttest and attitude questionnaire, were also collec ted. To examine the effects of school affiliation, Spanish I Exam pret est score, SES, and GPA on each of the four language skills and on att itude toward the foreign language learning experience, multiple linear regression analyses were performed. The results indicated that there was a significant relationship between school affiliation and each of the posttest components. Middle school language achievement exceeded t hat of the high school in all four language skills. In addition, middl e school attitude toward the foreign language learning experience was significantly more favorable than that of the high school. Pretest sco re and GPA, but not SES, were significantly related to language achiev ement and attitude.1