Teachers routinely conduct a period of review after a semester or summer holiday
break due to expected loss of material learned. In the area of second language (L2)
acquisition, this matter is of particular concern to instructors and students because, in
general, during the period of disuse students have had little, if any, contact with the
language. One factor which has proven to influence the maintenance of an L2 is that of
motivation. Gardner and his colleagues’ (1959, 1971, 1973, 1985, 1987, 1988) studies
of French as a Second Language (FSL) have highlighted strong correlations between
attitude and achievement and achievement and language retention. Research on individual
differences among learners (Brounstein, Holahan, William, & Sawyer, 1988; Gardner,
1990) has also contributed to identifying what leads to a successful learner.
This study examined the loss of linguistic and reading comprehension skills among
learners of all ability levels in FSL, with a focus on high ability learners, following
summer vacation. In addition, between-group comparisons of motivational factors, as
based upon subjects’ pre-test scores were conducted.
Tests performed consisted of an analysis of exam questions and components to
confirm an equal level of difficulty of both test versions used, as well as tests of
reliability. Pre- and post-test measures were compared to identify any loss incurred,
followed by Pearson correlations and t-tests. Ability groupings were then categorized as
high, medium, and low according to their pre-test scores. Within these groupings, questionnaire statistics were calculated and contrasted to highlight any motivational
differences between them.
Findings from this research suggested that language skills among FSL learners of
varying abilities deteriorate significantly after a period of disuse. In addition, these
findings confirmed that highly proficient FSL learners are more immune to attrition due
to their having a more stable language base. With reference to the motivational
questionnaires, analyses concluded few significant differences among the three ability
levels.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:LACETR/oai:collectionscanada.gc.ca:BVAU.2429/5400 |
| Date | 11 1900 |
| Creators | MacDicken-Jones, Kathleen Susan |
| Source Sets | Library and Archives Canada ETDs Repository / Centre d'archives des thèses électroniques de Bibliothèque et Archives Canada |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Electronic Thesis or Dissertation |
| Relation | UBC Retrospective Theses Digitization Project [http://www.library.ubc.ca/archives/retro_theses/] |
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