About CSUCI

Name of Study	Spanish -- Assessment of Student Learning, 2006
Study Date	05/31/2006
Researcher Name	Terry Ballman, Ph.D.
Researcher Email	terry.ballman@csuci.edu
Researcher Phone	805.437-8996

Executive Summary

The Spanish program selected to assess the degree to which students perform at an intermediate-high to advanced level of language proficiency in speaking and writing in the Spanish language as defined the American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages (ACTFL) Guidelines. To do so, data were collected in two courses during the Spring 2006 semester: in SPAN 302 Advanced Spanish: Part Two and in SPAN 499 Capstone in Spanish. SPAN 302 counts as a required course toward the major, and SPAN 499 is required of students completing their Spanish program in May or in December of the same year. Two populations of students were identified: heritage speakers (for whom Spanish is spoken at home by at least one adult family member), and non-heritage speakers (those who have learned Spanish as a second language). These populations were identified because they often experience different challenges. The typical heritage speaker may have difficulty with reading and writing, for example, yet may exhibit strong listening and speaking skills.   For speaking, oral proficiency interviews were conducted by a Spanish faculty member with individual students, and these interviews were digitally recorded. The students interviewed were:  6 students, 2 heritage and 4 non-heritage speakers, from SPAN 302; and 4 students, all heritage speakers, from SPAN 499. For writing, essay questions administered on a SPAN 302 in-class exam were collected, a total of 5 students, 1 heritage and 4 non-heritages speakers; and capstone research papers from SPAN 499 were collected from a total of 4 students, 3 heritage and 1 non-heritage speakers. The data suggest an increase in level among the heritage group. No conclusions can be drawn from the non-heritage speaker group since no data are available from the capstone project. This is due to the fact that this was the first Capstone course offered by the Spanish program, and a speaking sample from the one non-heritage speaker was not collected. Non-heritage speakers in SPAN 302 will eventually take the Capstone, at which point comparable results will be available. The ACTFL Guidelines for writing were used to rate the writing samples. The data, also suggest that there is an overall increase in both the heritage and non-heritage groups in speaking from SPAN 302 to the Capstone. However, this suggested increase is based on a small sample of students. Consequently, no conclusions were drawn from the existing data, as the number of students used was small, suggesting findings are not generalizable. In order to draw conclusions and to suggest implications for program modification, the Spanish program needs to collect and analyze more data related to speaking and writing proficiency. The Spanish program will collect more data on speaking and writing proficiency over the course of the 2006-07 academic year, as it continues to identify and develop other means to assess the program’s other student learning outcomes.

Citations
Spanish Report (PDF, 29KB)

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