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Chapter 12. L2 Spanish in the U.S. and the question of motivation

Changing trends in post-secondary language study
  • Terri Schroth and Bryant Smith
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Language Variation and Contact-Induced Change
This chapter is in the book Language Variation and Contact-Induced Change

Abstract

University students’ motivation to study Spanish includes a number of practical or instrumental factors (e.g., ease in finding gainful employment and desire to travel) and intrinsic or integrative factors (e.g., personal growth and using Spanish to communicate with family and friends). To better understand students’ current motivation to study Spanish, we examined data collected from university students of lower-division Spanish language courses from two different geographical regions in the United States. The participants completed questionnaires that sought to determine their motivation for studying Spanish. Concurrent with our hypothesis, results of this pilot study indicate that the students of Spanish who participated in this study express more practical (instrumental) motivations to learn the language. A desire to connect with one’s heritage or to speak Spanish with family members proved to be a less important motivator than we had anticipated, as did the geographic region of the students.

Abstract

University students’ motivation to study Spanish includes a number of practical or instrumental factors (e.g., ease in finding gainful employment and desire to travel) and intrinsic or integrative factors (e.g., personal growth and using Spanish to communicate with family and friends). To better understand students’ current motivation to study Spanish, we examined data collected from university students of lower-division Spanish language courses from two different geographical regions in the United States. The participants completed questionnaires that sought to determine their motivation for studying Spanish. Concurrent with our hypothesis, results of this pilot study indicate that the students of Spanish who participated in this study express more practical (instrumental) motivations to learn the language. A desire to connect with one’s heritage or to speak Spanish with family members proved to be a less important motivator than we had anticipated, as did the geographic region of the students.

Chapters in this book

  1. Prelim pages i
  2. Table of contents v
  3. Introduction 1
  4. Part I. Population migration and contact-induced language change
  5. Chapter 1. Spatial reconfigurations of Spanish in postmodernity 11
  6. Chapter 2. Female migration and its impact on language choice and use among Afro-Costa Rican women 35
  7. Chapter 3. Hard come, easy go 63
  8. Part II. Internal and external factors in pragmatic variation
  9. Chapter 4. Afro-Hispanic contact varieties at the syntax/pragmatics interface 85
  10. Chapter 5. Borrowed Spanish discourse markers in narrative 111
  11. Chapter 6. Hasta perder la última gota de mi sangre 127
  12. Chapter 7. Discourse markers in variation 153
  13. Part III. Morphosyntactic variation and change
  14. Chapter 8. Yo no le conocí a mi abuela 175
  15. Chapter 9. Attitudes toward morphosyntactic variation in the Spanish of Valencian speakers 199
  16. Chapter 10. Stable variation or change in progress? A sociolinguistic analysis of pa(ra) in the Spanish of Venezuela 223
  17. Part IV. Current issues in bilingual variation
  18. Chapter 11. El futuro es perifrástico 249
  19. Chapter 12. L2 Spanish in the U.S. and the question of motivation 279
  20. Chapter 13. Espero estén todos 299
  21. Index 335
https://doi.org/10.1075/cilt.340.13sch

Chapters in this book

  1. Prelim pages i
  2. Table of contents v
  3. Introduction 1
  4. Part I. Population migration and contact-induced language change
  5. Chapter 1. Spatial reconfigurations of Spanish in postmodernity 11
  6. Chapter 2. Female migration and its impact on language choice and use among Afro-Costa Rican women 35
  7. Chapter 3. Hard come, easy go 63
  8. Part II. Internal and external factors in pragmatic variation
  9. Chapter 4. Afro-Hispanic contact varieties at the syntax/pragmatics interface 85
  10. Chapter 5. Borrowed Spanish discourse markers in narrative 111
  11. Chapter 6. Hasta perder la última gota de mi sangre 127
  12. Chapter 7. Discourse markers in variation 153
  13. Part III. Morphosyntactic variation and change
  14. Chapter 8. Yo no le conocí a mi abuela 175
  15. Chapter 9. Attitudes toward morphosyntactic variation in the Spanish of Valencian speakers 199
  16. Chapter 10. Stable variation or change in progress? A sociolinguistic analysis of pa(ra) in the Spanish of Venezuela 223
  17. Part IV. Current issues in bilingual variation
  18. Chapter 11. El futuro es perifrástico 249
  19. Chapter 12. L2 Spanish in the U.S. and the question of motivation 279
  20. Chapter 13. Espero estén todos 299
  21. Index 335
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