Kerry-Ann Foley
Students' Attitudes Toward Foreign Language and Culture
| Background | Research Question | Method |
| Results | Discussion | Relevant Links |
Background
Research has shown that children benefit greatly from early foreign language experience in many ways. Sung and Padilla (1998) examined early foreign language experience and student motivation. Elementary school students, as compared to high school students, showed more motivation toward learning a foreign language, leading to mastery of the language (Sung and Padilla, 1998). In addition to increased motivaton, students also benefit from early foreign language experience because it is at the early years that the child is at the best psychophysiological level for acquisition of a language (Leont'ev, 1998) Leont'ev notes that the early elementary years corresponds to the "sensitive" period of development in children, in which a child acquires the system of operations necesary for learning in subsequent stages successfuly. Rhodes, Thompsn and Snow (1989) conducted a study of foreign language programs in nine elementary schools using fifth and sixth graders. One of the foreign language programs Rhodes and colleagues looked at was the Foreign Language Experience (FLEX) program, which included third and fourth graders as well. FLEX is a short-term exploratory program lasting three weeks to one year with minimal exposure to foreign lnguage. The goal of the FLEX program is to spark interext in a foreign lanuage by teaching appreciation for related cultures and a better understanding of the English language. Attitudes of the FLEX students were assessed toward the foreign language and culture studied (Spanish). Attitudes were assessed with the "What do YOU Think?" questionnaire. More exposure to the Spanish people and the Spanish language appeared to lead to more positive attitudes toward the language and culture in the students. This implies that students would benefit from foreign language and culture experience as early as possible (Rhodes et al., 1994). The current study addresses the issue of attitudinal change through the implementation of a foreign language and culture intervention designed similarly to the FLEX program implemented by Rhodes et al. (1994).Research Questiontop
Method
Participants
There were 24 participants in the study. In the experimental group (French group) there were 12 participants, five males and seven females, and in the control group (Art group) there were 12 participants, seven males and five females. All participants were students at an elementary school in a middle class area in the Northeast and were enrolled in the third grade. The mean age for the participants was 8.34 years old, the age of two of the participants is unknown. Most of the participants were born in the Northeast, 83%. Two participants (8.3%) were born in the western part of the country and the birth place of another two (83%) is unknown. As indicated on the pretest, in regards to the French group; 17% had a family member who learned French before learning English, 8.3% learned French before they learned English, 8.3% speak French at home. The pretest also revealed that none of the participants in the French group speak French outside their home, 25% had a family member who learned another language before they learned French or English, 25% learned another language before learning French or English, and none of the participants have traveled to a country where the people speak French. The pretest revealed, for the Art group that; 33% had a family member who learned French before learning English, 17% of the participants learned French before learning English. None of the participants in the Art group speak French at home, 17% speak French outside of the home, 17% had a family member who learned another language before learning French or English, 8.3% of the participants learned another language before learning French or English, and 33% have traveled to a country where the people speak French. Overall, none of the participants had previously studied French. The participants participated as part of an in-class program. Permission to do the study was received from the school principal and the teacher, and informed consent forms were sent home to the parents. Informed consent was received from all of the parents of the participants.
Design
A between-subjects, experimental design was used. The experimental group received instruction about the French language and culture once a week for four weeks (modeled on the FLEX program by Rhodes et al.), and the control group received instruction in art once a week for four weeks. There were two instructors. Each instructor instructed foreign language and culture instruction for two weeks and art instruction for two weeks, alternating each week to control for effects directly associated with the particular instructor.
The dependent variable is students’ scores on a questionnaire which was given to all subjects at the beginning of the study and again after the study was completed. All subjects were presented with a modified version of the language and culture questionnaire titled "What do YOU Think?" used in the study by Rhodes, Thompson and Snow (1989). The questionnaire assessed the students’ attitudes toward the French language and culture.
Materials
The questionnaire used was adapted from the "What do YOU Think?" questionnaire that contains two sections, with each section including a set of instructions (Rhodes, Thompson & Snow, 1989). The original instrument titled, "What do YOU Think?" included 73 items. These items were selected by an expert panel of linguists from the Center for Applied Linguistics (Rhodes et al., 1989). Based on field testing, Rhodes et al. eliminated non-significant or confusing items, thereby, resulting in a 52- item questionnaire. The 52-item questionnaire was factor analyzed resulting in the following five factors: attitudes toward Spanish-speaking people, interest in foreign language, parental encouragement, attitudes toward learning Spanish, and Spanish class anxiety. These five categories had strong alpha coefficients, thereby establishing reliability for the "What do YOU Think?" questionnaire. The construct validity for the "What do YOU think?" questionnaire was established by showing that children who attended immersion programs for Spanish had higher scores in terms of their attitudes toward Spanish speaking people compared to children in the FLES and FLEX programs. For the purposes of this study, the "What do YOU Think?" questionnaire was modified to include questions related to both the FLEX intervention and the Arts and Crafts intervention. In order to complete the questionnaire in a 45 minute period by third grade children, the "What do YOU Think?" questionnaire included 41 questions. Thirty-two questions on the questionnaire were from the original questionnaire, seven were added for Arts and Crafts activities and two others were added at the discretion of the experimenter, one being an open-ended question and the other being a multiple choice question. The open-ended question was stated as, "Write a couple of sentences on what you think of when you think of the word French." The modified version of the "What do YOU Think?" questionnaire used in this study included 27 Likert scale items and 13 multiple-choice items. The Likert scale items ranged from "No" = 1, "Not really" = 2, "Don’t know" = 3, "Kind of" = 4, to "Yes" = 5 (except for negative statements, then, the scoring was reversed, and "No" = 5 and "Yes" =1). A higher score indicates more positive attitudes. The Likert scale is a modified version of the Likert scale used in the original "What do YOU Think?" questionnaire based on input from the participants’ principal and guidance counselor regarding their abilities to respond to these questions. The multiple-choice items used the same format and a score of 1 is considered negative, 2 is considered neutral and 3 is considered positive.
Given the nature of the modification made for the current version of the "What do YOU Think?" questionnaire, it is unknown what the construct validity or reliability is for this instrument. However, the specification of subscales for this version were generally based on the categories used in the original "What do YOU Think?" questionnaire. The categories for the modified version used in this study are specified as follows for the Likert scale items: attitudes toward learning French and French speaking people (AFRENCHL), attitudes toward learning any language and other people (ALANGL), parental encouragement toward French (PENCFL), and attitudes toward learning Art (AARTL). In addition, for the multiple-choice items, the two categories considered are: attitudes toward learning French and toward French speaking people (AFRENCHMC), and attitudes toward Art (AARTMC). In terms of scoring participants’ questions, each Likert scale (1-4) category represents the average of the items for all the questions in that category. Likewise, each multiple-choice scale item (1-3) represents the average of items for all questions in that category. Finally, the open-ended (AFRENCHOEQ) question was scored by the expression with respect to their attitude conveyed on this response as negative = 1, neutral = 2, and positive = 3. Reliability was not established for the scoring of the open-ended responses. A sample Likert scale item used is, "French speakers care about the feelings of others." Likewise, a sample multiple-choice scale item is, "I find studying French:" Appendix A contains the "What do YOU Think?" questionnaire with abbreviations next to each item representing the categories noted above.
A letter of informed consent describing the study was sent home to the parents of the participants and the study was titled, "The Role of Culture and Art in a Child’s Experience of the World" (see Appendix B). Students were given a certificate commending their work at the conclusion of the intervention (see Appendix C).
Procedure
On week one of the four week intervention, participants were given a brief description of the study and were randomly assigned to either the experimental group or the control group. The two groups went to their respective rooms and were told that if they chose not to participate they did not have to and then they were given the "What do YOU Think?" questionnaire. All participants received the same version of the questionnaire. The instructor read the directions and the questions orally along with the participants. Participants were given as much time as necessary to complete the task. Following the questionnaire, participants in the French class picked French names and became familiar with them, and participants in the Arts and Crafts class constructed Q-tip skeletons. The Arts and Crafts participants used Q-tips and cotton balls and glued them on black construction paper in the configuration of a skeleton.
The weeks following the distribution of the questionnaire, the experimenter met with the experimental group and instructed them in the French language and culture. Instruction was given through lessons, games and activities involving the French language and culture. The next week (week 2), participants made name tags of their French names. The participants learned how to say, "Hello" and "My name is," they learned numbers 0-10 in French and then combined their knowledge in an activity with a paper phone. At the end of the instruction period they played a game in which the instructor wrote a number on the board and the participants had to call it out in French. Art instruction was given to the control group through various arts and crafts activities. Art instruction for week 2 involved making paper bowl turtles. The participants painted the bowls and then cut and glued on a head, tail and feet out of construction paper. The participants also glued on googly eyes to the head of the turtle. The third week, the participants in the French group reviewed the French numbers and how to say "Hello" and "My name is." Next, the French group participants did a restaurant exercise. They were presented with a poster of various foods and were taught the French names for the foods. Next, they were given menus with numbers 1-6 and beside each number was listed two food items in French (See Appendix D). The participants were told what food they wanted in English and they picked it from the menu and recited the French number and the food in French beside that number. Then the instructor went around the room acting as a waitress and the participants told the instructor what they would like to eat French. The participants were then presented with a French cookbook to flip through, were taught about different cultural foods in France, and were told about the similarities between French people and American people. The third week of art instruction involved making posterboard masks with feathers and sparkles for decorations, and a piece of yarn to tie it around one’s head. The fourth week of instruction in French consisted of a description of the values of young French people, the geography of France, and a fantasy boat ride down the Seine river. Students were shown a map of France when learning about the country’s geography, and on the fantasy boat ride down the Seine river they looked at posters of famous monuments in Paris and were given descriptions of the history of the monuments. Next, participants played a French April Fool’s Day game, putting paper fish on each other’s backs, if they answered a French-related question correct, participants were allowed to put their paper fish on another’s back. The fourth day of art instruction involved making paper bag fish. The participants painted paper bags, cut out fins and a mouth from construction paper and stuffed the bags with newspaper. There was not enough time to complete the project but the teacher was left with googly eyes and rubber bands (to tie the bag at the opening in order to make a tail) in order for the participants to complete the project during free time. The instruction was given once a week for approximately one hour and lasted for four weeks. At the end of four weeks, all subjects (i.e., experimental group and control group) were assessed again with the "What do YOU Think?" questionnaire in the same order as noted above. The questionnaire was given to the participants later in the same day as the last instruction. Both groups were given a certificate of commendation for their work in the programs to take home.Results
Seven dependent variables were assessed. In regards to the Likert scale items on the questionnaire, the dependent variables were: attitude toward learning French and French speaking people (AFRENCHL), attitude toward learning any language and meeting other people (ALANGL), attitude toward learning Art (AARTL), and parental encouragement toward French (PENCFL). The fifth dependent variable was attitude toward French on the open-ended question (AFRENCHOEQ). In addition, for the multiple-choice part of the questionnaire, two dependent variables were considered; attitude toward learning French and French speaking people (AFRENCHMC), and attitude toward art (AARTMC). A 2 (Condition; French group and Art group) x 2 (Time; pretest and posttest) Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) was conducted for each dependent variable.
The 2 x 2 ANOVA conducted on AFRENCHL revealed no significant effect for time, F (1, 22) = .28, p > .05, or condition, F (1, 22) = .004, p > .05. There was a significant interaction for Time and Condition, F (1, 22) = 12.61, p < .05. The means here indicate that for the French group, the posttest scores were higher than the pretest scores. In contrast, for the Art group, the posttest scores were lower than the pretest scores (See Table 1).
Table 1
Summary of Mean Attitude Toward Learning French and French Speaking People (AFRENCHL) from a 2 (Time; pretest/posttest) x 2 (Condition; French group/Art group) ANOVA
Mean (SE) FPretest 58.44 (2.58) .28
Posttest 59.38 (2.13)
Art 58.77 (3.10) .004French 59.04 (3.10)
French ArtPretest 55.42 (3.64) 61.46 (3.64) 12.61*
Posttest 62.67 (3.02) 56.08 (3.02)
*p < .05
A second ANOVA was conducted for the dependent variable of ALANGL. No significance was found for Time, F (1, 22) = 2.93, p > .05, or for Condition, F (1, 22) = .15, p > .05. No significance was found for the interaction of Time and Condition, F (1, 22) = 2.93, p > .05. The means here indicate that, for the French group, attitudes toward general foreign language and culture did not change over time. In contrast, for the art group, their attitudes decreased over time.
Table 2
Summary of Mean Attitude Toward Other Languages and Meeting People from Other Cultures from a 2 (Time; pretest/posttest) x 2 (Condition; French group/Art group) ANOVA
Mean (SE) FPretest 19.80 (1.06) 2.93
Posttest 18.27 (1.04)
Art 19.40 (1.34) 2.93French 18.67 (1.34)
French ArtPretest 18.67 (1.49) 20.92 (1.49) .15
Posttest 18.67 (1.47) 17.88 (1.47)
The third ANOVA was conducted on the dependent variable AARTL. There was no significant effect for Time, F (1, 22) = 1.96, p > .05. There was a significant effect for Condition, F (1, 22) = 8.12, p < .01. Means here indicate that children in the Art program showed more positive attitudes toward Art than children in the French program (See Table 3). There was no significant interaction for Time and Condition, F (1, 22) = 3.52, p > .05. However, the means clarify the main effect for condition, because for this variable, children in the Art group showed higher posttest scores than pretest scores. I contrast, children in the French group did not change attitudes toward Art from the pretest to the posttest.
Table 3
Summary of Mean Attitude Toward Art (AARTL) from a 2 (time; pretest/posttest) x 2 (Condition; French group/Art group) ANOVA
Mean (SE) FPretest 20.83 (1.00) 1.96
Posttest 21.94 (.69)
Art 23.56 (1.08) 8.12*French 19.21 (1.08)
French ArtPretest 17.92 (1.42) 23.75 (1.42) 3.52
Posttest 20.50 (.97) 23.38 (.97)
*p < .01
The ANOVA conducted on the dependent variable of PENCFL, revealed no significant effect for Time, F (1, 22) = .08, p > .05, for Condition, F (1, 22) = .45, p > .05, nor for the interaction of Time x Condition, F (1, 22) = .02, p > .05.
Fifth, an ANOVA was conducted on the dependent variable of AFRENCHOEQ. A significant effect was found for Time, F (1, 22) = 5.69, p < .05. As predicted, means here indicate more positive attitudes on the posttest (See Table 4). There was no significant effect found for Condition, F (1, 22) = .01, p > .05. This significant effect for time was modified by significant interaction effect of Time x Condition, F (1, 22) = 8.68, p < .01. As predicted, means here show that children in the French program showed more positive attitudes on the posttest as compared to the pretest. In contrast, for the Art group, the pretest and posttest scores were relatively the same (See Table 4).
Table 4
Summary of Mean Attitude Toward Learning French and French Speaking People (AFRENCOEQ) from a 2 (time; pretest/posttest) x 2 (condition; French group/Art group) ANOVA
Mean (SE) FPretest 1.94 (.12) 5.69*
Posttest 2.29 (.11)
Art 2.13 (.12) .01French 2.11 (.12)
French ArtPretest 1.71 (.17) 2.17 (.17) 8.69*
Posttest 2.50 (.15) 2.08 (.15)
* p < .05
Sixth, an ANOVA was conducted on the dependent variable of AFRENCHMC. There was no significant effect for Time, F (1, 22) = .18, p > .05, or condition, F (1, 22) = .57, p > .05. There was no significant effect found for the interaction of time and condition, F (1, 22) = 2.06, p > .05. The interaction suggests that results were in the predicted direction, such that, children in the French program showed more positive attitudes on the posttest compared to the pretest. In contrast, the Art group had lower posttest scores than pretest scores (See Table 5).
Table 5
Summary of Mean Attitude Toward Learning French and French Speaking People (AFRENCHMC) from a 2 (time; pretest/posttest) x 2 (condition; French group/Art group) ANOVA
Mean (SE) FPretest 23.96 (1.01) .18
Posttest 24.38 (1.03)
Art 23.50 (1.25) .57French 24.83 (1.25)
French ArtPretest 23.92 (1.43) 24.00 (1.43) 2.06
Posttest 25.75 (1.44) 23.00 (1.44)
Finally, an ANOVA was conducted on the dependent variable of AARTMC. A significant effect was found for Time, F (1, 22) = 7.14, p < .05. Means here indicate that children showed more positive attitudes toward Art on the posttest (See Table 6). No significant effect was found for Condition, F (1, 22) = 4.20, p > .05, and no significant effect was found for the interaction of Time and Condition, F (1, 22) = 2.33, p > .05. However, the means for this interaction clarify the main effect for time, because children in the Art group showed higher posttest scores on attitudes toward art compared to the pretest, but, the scores of the French group stayed relatively the same.
Table 6
Summary of Mean Attitude Toward Art (AARTMC) from a 2 (time; pretest/posttest) x 2 (condition; French group/Art group) ANOVA
Mean (SE) FPretest 4.58 (.23) 7.14*
Posttest 5.17 (.16)
Art 5.21 (.23) 4.20French 4.54 (.23)
French ArtPretest 4.42 (.32) 4.75 (.32) 2.33
Posttest 4.67 (.23) 5.67 (.23)
* p < .05
In summary, there were two significant interactions for time x condition. One significant interaction was found for the dependent variable of AFRENCHL. The means here indicate that for the French group, the posttest scores were higher than the pretest scores. In contrast, for the Art group, the posttest scores were lower than the pretest scores. The other significant interaction was found for the dependent variable of AFRENCHOEQ. The means here indicate that the French group had more positive attitudes on the posttest than on the pretest. In contrast, for the Art group, attitudes on the pretest and the posttest were the same. There were three suggested interactions. One suggested interaction was for AFRENCHMC. The means here indicate that children in the French group showed more positive attitudes on the posttest compared to the pretest. In contrast, the Art group had lower scores on the posttest as compared to the pretest. Another suggested interaction was for AARTL. The means here indicate that children in the art group had higher posttest scores than pretest scores and the scores for the French group did not change from the pretest to the posttest. The third suggested interaction was for the dependent variable of AARTMC. Means here indicate that children in the Art group showed higher posttest scores toward art as compared to the pretest, but the French group stayed the same. Any of the main effects for time or condition were better explained by the aforementioned interactions.
Discussion
The purpose of this study was to see if children’s attitudes toward the French language and culture and foreign language and cultures in general would change after the implementation of an intervention designed similar to the FLEX program cited by Rhodes, Thompson and Snow (1989). It was predicted that children’s attitudes would be more positive after the implementation of such an intervention.
Several dependent variables were assessed that supported the hypothesis; attitude toward speaking French and French people (AFRENCHL), attitude toward French (AFRENCHOEQ), and attitude toward speaking French and French people (AFRENCHMC).
The ANOVA conducted on the dependent variable of attitude toward speaking French and French people (AFRENCHL) revealed a significant interaction for time and condition. The means here indicate that for the French group, the posttest scores were higher than the pretest scores. In contrast, for the Art group, the posttest scores were lower than the pretest scores. The French group’s attitudes toward French language and culture improved over time, as predicted. The improvement of attitudes over time for the children in the French group was due to the French intervention, in which the children were exposed to the French language and culture through games and activities. Research shows that children are more open to another language when they are more familiar with it (Curtain and Pesola, 1994). It has also been shown that more exposure to another language and culture lead to more positive attitudes toward that language and culture (Rhodes, Thompson and Snow, 1989). The scores of the art group, due to the lack of exposure to French, were expected to the stay the same over time, yet the scores decreased over time, showing more negative attitudes toward French on the posttest. The negative attitudes may be due to resentment toward French from being put into the Art program.
On the dependent variable of attitude toward French (AFRENCHOEQ) a significant effect was found for Time. Means indicated that children showed more positive attitudes toward French on the posttest, as compared to the pretest. This could be due to the fact that people take tests better over time. This significant effect for time was modified by a significant interaction effect of time by condition. As predicted, means here show that children in the French program showed more positive attitudes on the posttest compared to the pretest and the scores did not change for the Art group. The increase in positive attitudes on the posttest for the French group is likely due to the intervention including exposure to the French language and culture through games and activities. The lack of change in attitudes for the Art group is due to the absence of exposure to the intervention. Research by Curtain and Pesola (1994) and Rhodes et al. (1989), as noted above, support these findings.
Another ANOVA supporting the hypothesis was conducted on the dependent variable of attitudes toward speaking French and French people (AFRENCHMC). There was no significant effect for the interaction of time and condition. Although, results were in the predicted direction, such that children in the French program showed more positive attitudes on the posttest compared to the pretest. In contrast, the Art group had lower posttest scores than pretest scores. The increase in positive attitudes toward French language and culture shown by the French group is likely to be due to the nature of the intervention. Research by Curtain and Pesola (1994) and Rhodes et al. (1989) support this finding. It was assumed that attitudes of the Art group would not change and the decrease may be due to resentment toward not being in the French group.
The ANOVA conducted for the dependent variable of attitudes toward foreign languages and people (ALANGL) did not support the hypothesis. No significance was found for the interaction of time x condition. The means here indicate that for the French group, contrary to predictions, attitudes toward general language and culture did not change over time and that attitudes of the Art group toward general language and culture declined over time. The reason the attitudes of the French group did not change over time, specifically improve over time, may be due to the lack of exposure to other languages and cultures. Once again, the attitudes of the Art group may have decreased over time due to resentment toward not being in the French program.
On the dependent variable of parental encouragement in French (PENCFL), no significant effect was found for an interaction of time x condition and this may be due short length of the intervention or the fact that no French homework was assigned.
The results of this study correspond to results shown by Rhodes, Thompson and Snow (1989). Rhodes et al. found that more exposure to Spanish people and the Spanish language lead to more positive attitudes towards the language and the culture in students in fifth and sixth grade. Curtain and Pesola suggest that exposure to foreign language and culture leads to more openness to that foreign language and culture. The French students in this study showed more positive attitudes towards the French language and culture after being exposed to it through an intervention using games and activities to teach children about the French language and culture. Students in this study showed more negative attitudes toward the French language and culture before they knew much about the French language and culture and this may actually be due to a theory proposed by Curtain and Pesola (1994). Curtain and Pesola theorized that if children perceive cultural practices as so different from their own that they seem bizarre, they will have trouble understanding and being open to these practices. Children are so used to their own language and culture, that when they first encounter ways different from their own, it can seem very strange and they can react negatively.
This study could be improved in many ways. It would be beneficial if the experimental group and the control group were taken from different but comparable schools. If the two groups were taken from different schools, they would likely not discuss the different programs with each other. Without knowledge of the other group, certain participants would not be resentful for being put in their respective group. This may have happened with participants from this study’s control group, evident by the result that children in the control group (Art) showed more negative attitudes toward French language and culture and general foreign language and culture on the posttest. Future studies could take this into consideration. A longer intervention, also incorporating general language and culture instruction, could improve the experimental group’s attitudes toward other languages and cultures. This was not taken into consideration for this study but could be for future research. Parental encouragement in French was expected to increase over time for students in the French group, yet it did not. Future research incorporating a longer intervention and French homework could lead to more parental encouragement.
Future research could implement a longer intervention and a larger sample size to see if it leads to more significance. Research could also be done to see if an intervention with the absence of games and activities would still have an effect on children’s attitudes toward foreign language and culture. This would show that attitudes improved through the type of intervention implemented. It would be interesting to see if an intervention like this one increases motivation for learning a foreign language through the implementation of follow up studies. Follow up studies could also be used to find out if the positive attitudes last.
This study showed that an intervention of French language and culture instruction through games and activities lead to more positive attitudes toward the French language and culture. This intervention helped the participants in making them more tolerant toward a culture and language different from their own.
There are many benefits possible in foreign language and culture instruction. Students can become more motivated in learning about other languages and cultures and this can lead to future foreign language and culture studies. The creation of more positive attitudes toward another language and culture, as this study shows, is greatly beneficial. As noted above, students would be more tolerant of different people and this could lead to a more peaceful classroom environment and society. Children and the society in general would benefit from more programs bringing foreign language and culture into the classroom in the early, elementary years.
Key Words: foreign language, attitude, French, children, art, culture
Instruments: Language and Culture Questionnaire
Return to Top
Return to Psychology Department Homepage Return to Senior Thesis Homepage
kfoley@anselm.edu