The most appropriate data collection method for this topic was observational data

collection. Observational data collection is the most effective method for education related topics

for many reasons. For example in education the data is mostly qualitative, so the need for

detailed notes is paramount over recording basic statistics in a chart. Another reason why

observational data collection was used is because there are many small differences from teacher

to teacher that cannot be planned for with a regular data chart such as a unique activity or

schedule. The most important reason why observational data collection was chosen was the ease

of access to different level language courses here at Glenelg. The observations were conducted

by finding a class and planning with a teacher when a visit would be appropriate where notes

could be taken about the class. The most important parts of a language class that were looked for

were the amount of the other language spoken vs english, student engagement, the populations of

classes, what skills the students had the most success with, and what students thought about their

future in the language.

The first class observed was Spanish 5 AP, and the class was very impressive. The most

obvious thing that I noticed was that nearly everything in the class was said in Spanish. This was

very surprising considering my past experiences in that teachers Spanish 2 honors class where

there was usually about an even split of how much english was spoken versus how much was

said in Spanish. This demonstrated that the students were proficient enough to be able to have

conversations completely in Spanish on a variety of topics. On the other hand Spanish 3 honors

and Spanish 1 were very different with the amount of Spanish spoken by the teacher only falling

around one third to half of everything they said to the class. Understandably this is because the

students wouldn’t be able to follow directions due to their lack of knowledge in the language.
This small amount of Spanish spoken was also met with a severe lack in understanding from a

lot of students when any directions were given in Spanish with most asking for it again in english

or trying to ask the few students who could comprehend what was said. The second most

noticeable thing when comparing the 5 AP classes to 3 honors and level 1 was the class size. In

Spanish 5 AP both classes had a total of about 30 students with 21 of them participating in the

AP exam in May. Meanwhile in the lower level Spanish courses there was about 20 to 30

students per class with there being as many as 4 Spanish 3 honors classes and 6 Spanish 1

classes. While speaking with some of the AP students a lot of them had said they are considering

getting a minor in Spanish in college or even further pursuing it as a main part of their career.

When the same questions were asked to the students in the Spanish 3 class only very few had

considered Spanish being apart of their future at all. Finally when this was asked to the Spanish 1

class it was met with blank stares as none of them had thought about Spanish playing a role in

their future at all. This difference in thoughts about Spanish in each student's future and the

difference in the amount of students in each class most likely stems from each increase in class

level filtering out students who no longer want to pursue the subject as it becomes harder.

The results gathered from the data collection overall point to the fact that the biggest

issues in language education arise in the lower level courses. That information is extremely

helpful to solving language education issues in the United States because the problematic areas

can be targeted and resources are not wasted on areas where help is not needed. However, this

data collection was not perfect and had limitations that are very hard to surmount with the

resources available. One of the largest limiting factors of this data collection was time, much

more data could have been collected on different course levels for different languages if more
time was given. This would help create a much better picture of what language programs have

more noticeable problems than others. Another limitation is that only the problems in my school

can be observed as I cannot go to other schools while my class is in session along with me not

being able to drive myself to other areas to observe there. The final and biggest limitation is that

I cannot go to other countries to observe the successes of other language programs meaning that

my knowledge of their successes can only come from secondary sources. If I were to do my data

collection again I would make sure to give myself a larger time frame so I could have a more

diverse set of observations for classes. This is the only change that I could realistically make due

to the resources required to overcome the other limitations.

The results gathered by my data collection will help future researchers figuring out what

the reasons for the lack of efficient foreign language programs in the United States. They will be

able to look at the observations I took and realize the failures of lower level language courses.

Researchers in the future could use this data to help further improve the United States language

education programs by targeting the low level language courses and attempting to improve the

proficiency and retention rate of students. This could either be through the methods I am

investigating by taking techniques and strategies from other countries, or creating and

experimenting with original strategies. This could overall make United States citizens more

competitive in the global job market as the future generations will be able to pick up valuable

language skills and apply them to almost any job they choose.

Data Collection Results

Class Spanish Level 1

Class Size There was about 31 students in the class.
There are about 3 other classes in highschool
and 5 in middle schools that split level 1 into a
two year course.

Attention Most of the class didn’t pay attention to the

instruction that was given by the teacher.
Although there were a few students who
seemingly blossomed in the class and had
impressive skills for the time they spent
learning the language. A lot of the students
who were not paying attention would flock to
the students who were doing well to try to get
answers rather than getting help learning.

Activities Most of the activities in the class were to help

students practice the vocabulary they learned.
The games the teacher organized seemed to
grab more participation than any other
activity. When handed worksheets the
students seemed the least involved and a
majority of them would just converse among
themselves.

Additional Notes It seemed the teacher had a hard time

managing all of the students in the class and
trying to keep them on task, this is most likely
due to the large class size.

Class Spanish Level 3 Honors

Class Size The class had around 25-30 students (There

was some empty seats so this estimate is to
accommodate for possible absences). There
were only 2 classes for honors at this level
and 3 for regular.
Attention About half of the class clearly was not making
an effort to pay attention in the class and try to
further their understanding of the language. A
few shining students had a much greater
knowledge of the language than most and
would often be the ones who participated the
most and consistently appeared to be writing
down notes and paying attention.

Activities The bulk of the activities done with the class

focused on proper grammar utilization,
specifically verb conjugations for spanish.
Students would mostly just do worksheets that
were meant to help with practicing their
grammar.

Additional Notes This class had to be held during an extended

lunch block period. This meant that the class
was held every other day for an hour and a
half rather than 50 minutes everyday. Also
because of this class would be interrupted by a
30 minute lunch meaning an hour of class
would go by the students would leave for
lunch and come back for another 30 minutes.

Class Spanish Level 5 Advanced Placement

Class Size There were only about 20 students in the class

and only 2 classes were needed to accomodate
all of the students at this level. (Spanish 5
only consists of the Advanced Placement
course, there is no other spanish 5 courses).

Attention The majority of students were not only being

attentive in class but actively participating
 too. Only a small minority of students would
become preoccupied with something else and
choose not to pay attention to the teacher’s
instruction.

Activities A lot of the class activities centered around

studying and practicing for the AP Exam that
would occur in May. The activities used to
prepare were mostly peer to peer speaking and
the depth and knowledge that a lot of the
students had was very impressive. The teacher
was surprisingly hands off with the students
and let them work amongst themselves at their
own pace after setting some guidelines.

Additional Notes The AP exam that occurs in may is an exam

provided by the College Board that is meant
to test students on their ability on the language
they chose to study and consists heavily of
creative speaking and writing portions rather
than just multiple choice. There are currently
AP exams for Spanish, French, Latin,
German, Japanese, Italian, and Chinese
Mandarin.