A Ten-Year Chronicle of Student

Attitudes Toward Foreign Language

in the Elementary School
AUDREY L. HEINING–BOYNTON THOMAS HAITEMA
School of Education Fike High School
The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill 500 Harrison Drive
Chapel Hill, NC 27599-3500 Wilson, NC 27893
Email: ahb@email.unc.edu Email: thaitema@nc.rr.com

This article reports the results of 2 studies conducted over a 10-year period that researched
student attitudes toward early foreign language learning. These studies are unique because of
the long time frame in which the students were followed, and the large data sets collected at
the elementary school level. Surveys of students in the Foreign Language in the Elementary
Schools (FLES) programs examined the attitudes of all children in 2 school systems in North
Carolina: one suburban and one urban. The students studied either French or Spanish. The
number of responses to the survey questions ranged from 22,549 to 52,227 for a 4-year period.
The results indicated that boys and girls had positive attitudes when responding to 2 questions
about enjoyment of their FLES classes and teachers. The girls were positively inclined, and the
boys were neutral, in their desire to continue with foreign language study in the next grade.
Two items about the use of foreign language outside the school venue and comprehension of
foreign language teacher input revealed negative attitudes for both genders.
As a follow-up to the quantitative study, qualitative data about attitudes toward foreign
language speakers, foreign cultures, and their own education with respect to foreign language
study were gathered through structured interviews. The participants were the same students
who had completed the original surveys 10 years earlier. In corroboration of the quantitative
data, a qualitative analysis revealed that, for a majority of the students, foreign language study
was viewed positively, as were foreign language speakers and their cultures.

PUBLIC EDUCATION DEPENDS ON PUBLIC
support, and that support at the local, state, and
federal levels has been tied increasingly to ac-
countability. Educational programs must respond
to the public’s desire to know if the funds they
allocate have been well spent. The public as well
as school district personnel shape their notions of
program efficacy in concert with program evalua-
tion and high stakes testing. How educational pro-
grams are perceived depends on the participants’
and other stakeholders’ attitudes toward them.
A positive attitude can translate into increased
support for the program, whereas a negative atti-
tude may often lead to the program’s termination.
Thus, gauging the attitude of the public toward
The Modern Language Journal, 91, ii, (2007)
0026-7902/07/149–168 $1.50/0


C 2007 The Modern Language Journal
specific programs can be vital to continued finan-
cial support. In the world of education, the stu-
dent is an important member of the consuming
public.
This article reports on two studies carried out to
ascertain the chronology and development over
time of student attitudes toward learning lan-
guages in addition to English. The first study was
designed to follow and document a large popu-
lation of students in two school districts in North
Carolina that offer either Spanish or French, or
both, at the elementary school level. The second
study was a follow-up study that focused on a group
of the students who were part of the original study
and were currently studying a world language in
high school. The purpose of both studies was to
document attitudes over time, and the research
questions for both studies are related.
The purpose of the quantitative elementary
study was to determine and document student
150
attitudes toward foreign languages (FLs) in the
Foreign Language in the Elementary Schools
(FLES) instruction over time. The specific re-
search questions were:
1. How do students’ attitudes toward FL study
change over time?
2. How does the desire of students to continue
with FL study change over time?
3. How do the students’ attempts to use the
language outside of class change over time?
4. How do students feel their linguistic compe-
tence changes over time?
5. Are there gender differences with regard to
FL study, and if so, do they change over time?
The purpose of the qualitative follow-up high
school study was to answer the following three
research questions:
1. How do former FLES students feel that their
early FL instruction affected their perceptions of
FL speakers?
2. How do former FLES students feel that their
early FL instruction affected their perceptions of
foreign cultures?
3. How do former FLES students feel that their
early FL instruction affected their perceptions of
their own FL education?
REVIEW OF PREVIOUS SCHOLARSHIP
The importance of attitudes in second lan-
guage studies cannot be underestimated. Gardner
(1985), for instance, cited research indicating that
the more positive students’ attitudes toward the
object of study, the higher their achievement. The
lack of literature chronicling changes in student
attitudes toward FL study necessitates a review of
literature on attitude change for other subjects or
fields, such as politics.
Functions of Attitudes
Attitudes are not merely opinions that often
influence decisions we make about everyday mat-
ters. They represent psychological constructs that
have attracted the attention of researchers for
decades. According to Zimbardo and Leippe
(1991), attitudes have three main components:
affective, behavioral, and cognitive. In the affec-
tive realm, attitudes influence perceptions and
thought. Often, the way everyday life events are
perceived depends on the affective portion of the
attitudes that the viewer brings to the event. In the
areas of behavior, attitudes exist in order to sim-
plify everyday existence. They provide evaluative
The Modern Language Journal 91 (2007)
summaries of events and occurrences that per-
mit a person to make quick decisions about the
significance of what he or she has witnessed or
heard. What actions a person may take in a given
situation depend, to a great extent, on previously
held attitudes. As Maio and Olson (2000) noted,
attitudes aid in this decision making and simplifi-
cation by dividing the world into easily identifiable
and manipulated categories: things I like, dislike,
or have no opinion about. In the area of cogni-
tion, attitudes define the self. A person is the sum
total of his or her attitudes. Thus, it is difficult
for people to give up attitudes, even in the light
of overwhelming evidence that his or her percep-
tion of what has occurred is wrong. In addition,
attitudes can guide the actual perceptual and cog-
nitive processes.
Fazio (2000) offered yet another reason for the
persistence of attitudes. In addition to imposing
coherence on and making sense of the world, at-
titudes provide cognitive simplicity, thus fulfilling
the human need for affect. That is, by categorizing
the universe into things that one likes, dislikes, or
is indifferent to, a person is able to maximize inter-
actions with objects, situations, or people that en-
hance affective fulfillment and to minimize those
interactions that do not.
Other researchers define attitudes in terms of
functions that may be seen as complementary
to Zimbardo and Leippe’s (1991) classification.
Fazio (2000) viewed attitudes as having an object
appraisal function that is dependent on the ac-
cessibility of the attitude object in the individual’s
mind. This accessibility, in turn, depends on prior
experience with the object. Access to the attitude
will be slower in first-time encounters than in sub-
sequent encounters. Indeed, if the object, or one
similar to it, has never been encountered before,
then an attitude may be formed for the first time,
and subsequent encounters will crystallize or set it
in the mind. Studies examining the issues of atti-
tude formation and crystallization are cited in the
next section.
Herek (2000) provided a useful dichotomy for
the functionality of attitudes. He proposed that at-
titudes have instrumental or symbolic functions.
An instrumental function is based on an individ-
ual’s self-interest in strictly utilitarian terms. It is
founded on an object’s direct usefulness to the
person. A symbolic function views the attitude ob-
ject as a symbol that reflects deep-seated values
and prejudices. It is indicative of social adjustment
and is closely related to identity affirmation, ex-
actly what makes a person have the personality
that he or she has.
Audrey L. Heining–Boynton and Thomas Haitema
Attitude Change During the School Years
The trinity that composes attitude—affect, be-
havior, and cognition—has been examined in a
number of studies that have looked at, among
other areas, the formation and subsequent sta-
bility of attitudes, attempts to predict academic
behavior from attitudes, and the changes in atti-
tudes toward various subjects over the academic
careers of the study participants. These studies
have considered these changes as a function of
age and gender. These studies will be reviewed
and their implications for the present study eluci-
dated. The almost complete lack of similar stud-
ies on FL makes it necessary to use longitudinal
studies from other subject areas that may allow
inferences to be drawn for FL.
Eagly and Chaiken (1993), in a comprehensive
discussion of attitudes, lamented the lack of infor-
mation on the actual formation of attitudes in nat-
uralistic settings. They commented that this lack
of information results from the inherent difficulty
in determining at what point an attitude appears
in a real-life scenario versus in the artificial envi-
ronment of the laboratory. An extensive review of
pertinent literature revealed that in the interven-
ing years, little has changed in the knowledge of
attitude formation in naturalistic settings.
Two other studies used a multifactor model to
determine which factors had the greatest effect
on attitudes toward specific subjects. Factor analy-
sis suggested that home environment, motivation,
and attitude toward science in the previous grade
accounted for the majority of the present attitude
toward science (Reynolds & Walberg, 1992a). In
an analysis of their results, Reynolds and Walberg
suggested that any attempt to bolster achievement
among science students would have to be mul-
tipronged because the interconnectedness of all
the factors means that changing one factor will
influence all the others. In a subsequent study,
Reynolds and Walberg (1992b) determined that
the same factors affected high school students’ at-
titudes toward mathematics. The conclusion they
drew from their studies was that achievement in-
fluences attitude rather than the reverse, at least
in high school.
An older study by Haldyna and Thomas (1979)
focused on the attitudes of elementary school
students toward school in general and toward
certain subjects, in particular. They used a cross-
sectional design to examine the attitudes of over
3,000 students in first through eighth grades. The
children showed a definite decline in positive at-
titudes toward school overall that corresponded
to their progression through the grade levels, but
151
attitudes toward specific subjects were somewhat
mixed.
Social studies received the lowest rating from all
the students at every grade level; student attitudes
were extremely negative. Physical education and
art were among the most positively viewed, fol-
lowed by science, math, and reading. All subject
matters showed a decline in the students’ estima-
tion, with positive attitudes declining significantly
in all but science and reading. For these two sub-
jects, attitudes declined, but the change was not
statistically significant. The major declines in at-
titudes occurred between the sixth and seventh
grades and between the first and second grades.
Apparently, FL was not offered in this school sys-
tem at the time of the study because it did not
appear as a separate subject.
Other researchers have observed the general
decline in attitudes of elementary students toward
school. Davies and Brember (2001) surveyed atti-
tudes of almost 800 children toward school in gen-
eral in a longitudinal study. The participants were
surveyed using a Smiley-face Likert scale in the
second and sixth grades. The authors reported a
significant decline in attitudes for both males and
females. Boys started out significantly more nega-
tive in their attitudes but were almost overtaken by
the girls over the course of the study. In an earlier
study, Davies and Brember (1994) had detected a
downward trend in attitudes between the second
and fourth grades in a study of 167 students. They
examined changes in young children’s attitudes
toward school in general and toward certain ac-
tivities in particular between the ages of 6 and 8.
They also found that, although children overall
had a positive attitude toward school, there was a
decline in attitude toward specific subjects or to-
ward activities related to them. Girls declined in
positive attitudes toward math, whereas boys in-
creased slightly. Boys maintained a slightly greater
preference for science, and the girls a preference
for reading.
Donato, Tucker, Wudthayagorn, and Igarashi
(2000) examined the attitudes of a small cohort
of students (N = 17) who were involved in a
Japanese FLES program. They found, contrary
to the studies just cited, that the more years a
student had been in the Japanese language pro-
gram, the more positive the attitude. This cohort
of students achieved moderate success in speaking
ability while attending the Falk Laboratory School
at the University of Pittsburgh (Donato, Antonek,
& Tucker, 1996) and appeared to be atypical to
the previously cited studies.
Shrigley (1990), in a meta-analysis of attitudes
and behavior, uncovered studies indicating that
152
attitude precedes behavior, and other studies that
showed the reverse. He concluded that attitude
and behavior are correlates that mutually influ-
ence each other. He postulated that positive or
pleasant experiences could lead to the devel-
opment of positive attitudes, whereas negative
experiences would provoke a negative reaction.
He also posited that if a person approaches an
object with a positive preformed attitude, he or
she would likely have a positive experience, and
vice versa. Shrigley presented a “chicken or the
egg” scenario in which the influence can be in ei-
ther direction depending on the prior conditions
at the time of the interaction with the attitudinal
object.
It is interesting that most researchers find that
students become increasingly disenchanted with
school and often with particular subjects. The
males almost always have a more negative atti-
tude, but in the case of the Davies and Brember
(2001) study, the females became almost as neg-
ative. Also, the study by Smith (1990) indicated
that attitudes, at least toward scholastic pursuits
such as reading, can remain relatively stable over
long periods.
Other studies have uncovered a negative cor-
relation between student attitudes and years of
study. Attitudes tend to become more negative
as students spend more years studying a subject.
Haldyna and Thomas (1979) detected a negative
trend on the part of the majority of the students
that they studied. Similarly, Davies and Brem-
ber (1994, 2001) noted that both males and fe-
males showed marked declines in attitudes toward
school in general and toward certain subjects in
particular. Kush and Watkins (1996) reported that
male and female students showed a significant
decline in attitudes toward reading between the
fourth and seventh grades. Finally, Smith (1990)
reported that in his 40-year longitudinal study of
attitudes toward reading, these attitudes tended
to remain stable over extended periods.
These cited studies shed light on what might
be expected for changes in attitude of FLES stu-
dents. Because there were no long-term longitudi-
nal studies dealing with elementary FL students, it
was necessary to infer possible results from earlier
studies on different academic areas.
OVERVIEW OF THE PRESENT STUDIES
The purpose of the present research is to report
the attitudes of students over an extended period
toward learning a language in addition to English
in the elementary school. This research blends, in
effect, two studies. The first study is quantitative
and comprises a large data set of thousands of chil-
The Modern Language Journal 91 (2007)
dren studying French and Spanish in elementary
school over a 4-year period. The follow-up study
is qualitative and explores the attitudes of 13 high
school students who were among the original par-
ticipants in the quantitative study.
This article reports the two studies separately.
At the end, conclusions are drawn that relate
the answers to the research questions of both
studies.
ELEMENTARY SCHOOL STUDY
The two FLES programs used in this study, both
content based, have been functioning since the
late 1980s. Content-based FLES programs teach
subject matter through the second language as
a reinforcement of what the students are learn-
ing in their regular classroom. These programs
have offered a second language from kinder-
garten through fifth grade. The languages are ei-
ther French or Spanish.
Design of the Study
A survey was conducted in these school systems
for 6 consecutive years from 1990 to 1995. The in-
strument used was the FLES Program Evaluation
Inventory (FPEI), which was created and used pre-
viously (Heining–Boynton, 1990).
Design and Development of the FPEI Questionnaire.
There are five different FPEI forms that target
each of the major stakeholders in FLES programs:
students, parents, FLES teachers, classroom teach-
ers, and school administrators. The instruments
incorporate questions that correspond to 10 FLES
program issues: 6 of historical concern and 4 that
were considered of contemporary concern at the
time of the creation of the surveys. The histori-
cal issues were qualified teachers; goals and ob-
jectives; pedagogy; articulation with middle and
high school; homework, grades/evaluation; and
parent support. Contemporary issues at the time
of the study were acceptance of FLES teachers
by colleagues, workload, at-risk students, and stu-
dent satisfaction (Heining–Boynton, 1990). Many
of these concerns, of course, remain today.
A team of 25 FLES teachers, administrators,
and consultants developed the pilot survey of the
FPEI for students. It consisted of four questions
answered by marking a smiling or frowning face
on the students’ answer sheets after the teacher
read the prompt (see Appendix A). In June of
1989, 7,038 kindergarten and first-grade students
in District A responded to the pilot version of the
student FPEI (Heining–Boynton, 1990).
Each year up to 1995, the last year of this
study, the same cohorts of students were surveyed
Audrey L. Heining–Boynton and Thomas Haitema
following the same procedures as in the pilot
study. The surveys were distributed at the end of
the school year so that the students had the ben-
efit of a full year of study on which to base their
responses.
Teachers were actively involved in the prepa-
ration of the student surveys. Some years, the
teachers felt that they wanted to find out if cer-
tain changes they had made to the program had
been beneficial in the opinion of their students.
Therefore, they added items to some of the stu-
dent surveys to acquire feedback pertinent to mak-
ing improvements to the program. For example,
in the fourth grade, teachers began introducing
reading and writing. The survey used for fourth
grade reflected that addition and asked the stu-
dents to respond to the prompts “I can write some
words in the foreign language” and “I can read
some words in the foreign language.” The fifth-
grade survey had the prompt “Most of the time
I understand what my foreign language teacher
is saying.” These prompts did not correspond to
any prompts in the other grade levels and thus
are not reported and were not used in the lon-
gitudinal analysis. They were intended to provide
information to the FLES practitioner.
The other prompts and questions in the surveys
addressed the same concerns and topics, but the
prompt order changed in some of the grade levels.
Thus, a prompt that was number 3 in the third-
grade survey may have been number 5 in the fifth-
grade survey. Reliability analysis was conducted to
determine the presence of any bias in the order of
the questions and the effect of the varied wording
of some prompts. No evidence of bias appeared
in either case, and the analysis suggested that the
prompts were querying the same domain.
Face and content validity were established for
the FPEI by examining the items and determining
that they indeed reflected the intent of the instru-
ment, which was to determine attitudes toward FL
instruction. No extraneous items could be consid-
ered irrelevant to the research. That practition-
ers knowledgeable in the field of FLES wrote the
items adds to the face validity. The clarity of the
items that were answerable in a dichotomous man-
ner also contributes to this validity.
As defined by Eagly and Chaiken (1993), con-
struct validity is the determination of whether an
attitude measure actually does what was intended.
In the FPEI, the questions are based on certain
generally accepted notions about the nature and
functioning of attitudes. An examination of the
survey items indicated that they demonstrated
construct validity.
A final indication of the instrument’s validity is
the fact that rather than just sampling a portion
153
of the population, this study undertook to ex-
amine every member of the population of possi-
ble respondents. Only children who were absent
on the days the surveys were administered were
excluded. Therefore, practically speaking, there
were no sampling errors.
Three Cronbach’s alpha coefficients were cal-
culated to estimate the reliability of the FPEI. The
questions from the surveys were divided accord-
ing to their domains. The first group of three
items dealt with the children’s general appreci-
ation of FL study. These items were “Do you like
foreign language class?” “Do you like the foreign
language teacher?” and “Is the foreign language
class fun?” The alpha for these three items was .76.
The second group comprised the questions on
writing, reading, and interesting activities in class.
The alpha coefficient for this set of three was .50,
which is moderately low. The lower value may be
an artifact of the wording of the prompts and the
yes/no answer format. The final group of survey
items included the prompts asking for feedback
on continuation of FL study, understanding what
the teacher said, and using FL outside class. The
alpha of .50 was not unexpected given that these
three questions were not highly interrelated, but
were nevertheless grouped for this calculation.
Description of FPEI Survey Populations. District
A public schools have students from a population
that ranges from urban to suburban. The overall
racial composition of the schools did not change
over the years of the FPEI study period, with the
following ethnic makeup remaining fairly con-
stant: Caucasian, 69%; African American, 27%;
and Asian American, Hispanic, and Native Amer-
ican, 4%. The percentage of students receiving
free or reduced lunches remained constant at
25% of the total student body. The student pop-
ulation increased, which led to a change in the
number of elementary schools from 54 in 1990 to
80 in 2002 to 93 in 2006.
District B schools experienced some growth in
student population, but the racial composition by
percentage remained constant over the study pe-
riod, with the following makeup: Caucasian, 73%;
African American, 18%; and Asian American, His-
panic, and Native American, 9%. The percentage
of students receiving free or reduced lunches re-
mained constant at 18% of the total student body.
District B went from six elementary schools in
1990 to eight in 2003 and to nine in 2006.
The two districts in the study are not represen-
tative of all schools in the United States. Never-
theless, there is no reason to believe that what we
found would be different in other districts nation-
wide.
154 The Modern Language Journal 91 (2007)
The elementary school study focused on the array of choices, such as in a traditional Lik-
attitudes of elementary school students toward ert scale of 1–5. The dichotomous nature of the
studying an FL. The analysis was exclusively of a responses may be a factor in the low spoilage rate
secondary nature. Data for five questions to which of the surveys. Responses were coded by the re-
a very large sample of elementary school students searchers with yes having a value of 1, and no a
responded formed the basis of analysis. Accord- value of 0. The mean of the responses is equal to
ingly, the findings, although confirming what was the proportion of affirmative answers. The scores
noted in the previous review of the literature, 0 and 1 represent, respectively, absence and pres-
should be taken as a modest attempt to give sta- ence of an attribute. The computed proportion
tistical meaning to well-established trends in the assumes a latent continuous measure in the pop-
teaching of FL in particular. ulation. This computed proportion (the mean)
is the best unbiased estimator of the attitude be-
Administration of the FPEI Survey. During the
ing measured with the assumption that an average
period 1990 to 1995, the FPEI was distributed
value of the score truly represents the group as a
annually in District A and District B. The chil-
whole in a single quantifiable figure. In addition,
dren surveyed were in kindergarten through fifth
the students were asked to identify themselves as
grade. The data for second through fifth graders
male or female.
are presented in this report. The surveys were con-
Two matters need to be emphasized. First, con-
ducted annually toward the end of the school year.
sidering that the data correspond to cross sec-
The dates varied each year.
tions of the student population in two different
The number of responses varied from year to
educational districts, we determined whether dif-
year in each district. Only those students present
ferences were observed over time. Second, we
on the day the survey was administered were
tested the hypothesis that boys and girls differ
counted. This number surpassed the number of
in attitudes toward FL learning and interest. In
participants needed for the analysis; therefore, it
addition, when the sample was split by gender,
was not necessary to administer a follow-up survey.
the intention was to determine whether the mean
Response rates exceeded 95% based on total en-
scores for boys differed from the mean score for
rollments. Overall, there was an observed decline
girls in any given year of the study. Other studies
in sample size for all groups (male and female)
have shown that females are more likely to have
over time.
better attitudes toward school, teachers, and the
Many of the same children responded to the
subject matter (Davies & Brember, 2001; Haldyna
survey each year, whereas others left the districts,
& Thomas, 1979).
and still others entered and were then subse-
Owing to very large sample sizes, all year and
quently administered the survey. Data indicating
gender differences, except one, were statistically
the exact percentage of turnover were not avail-
significant at the alpha = .05 level. Statistical sig-
able and, hence, could not be tabulated during
nificance is not indicated in the tables. The sole
the survey years. The initial purpose of the study
nonsignificant gender difference is discussed in
was to provide anonymous feedback to the teach-
the text. We focus on the significant findings as
ers, as well as to collect group data; only school
we present the results.
identifiers were used and are not germane to this
To highlight gender differences in attitudes to-
study.
ward FL learning, a means test was conducted. An
The number of questions in each grade level
alternative statistical approach would have been
survey varied. Considerably fewer children in the
simply to analyze the association of the dependent
total sample responded to certain questions that
variable (Do you like foreign language?) to years and
were included only in the fourth- and fifth-grade
gender. Cross-tabulations and chi-square could
forms. Other items were present in each grade-
have been used to detect the presence of an associ-
level survey, which accounted for the highest
ation. However, that approach is less useful than
response count of 52,227. For questions that were
the means test because all that can be stated in
not included at each grade level, the cumulative
measuring association is its existence. The anal-
response count was considerably less.
ysis used in this research makes possible clearer
Statistical Methods. Very few of the survey re- interpretations of the observed change in prefer-
sponse sheets from any of the survey periods were ences over time.
unusable. The answers to the prompts in the FPEI
surveys were set up as either yes or no responses. Treatment of the Data. Data for District A and
This format was used to take into account the District B are presented in separate sections, each
difficulty that very young children have in decid- with cohorts that range from 3- to 4-year peri-
ing between what may be considered a confusing ods. The decision to present data for the two
Audrey L. Heining–Boynton and Thomas Haitema 155
districts separately was made on the basis of two TABLE 1
considerations. First, the number of participants Means Over Time for Cohort 1 District A, 1992–
surveyed in the District A cohorts, 13,000 or more 1995, Grades 2 to 5
in some instances, would mask any possible differ- Boys Girls
ences in the smaller District B cohorts, N = 1,800 Do you like
or less. Second, there were programmatic differ- N Ma SD FL class? N Ma SD
ences in the delivery of services to the students.
1930 .84 0.37 1992 1829 .90 0.30
District B schools had more FLES contact time 1761 .75 0.43 1993 1852 .82 0.38
than District A schools. 1259 .65 0.48 1994 1308 .70 0.46
1232 .51 0.50 1995 1311 .59 0.49
Results 6182 .71 0.46 Total 6300 .77 0.42
Is the FL teacher fun?
What follows are the results of documenting the 1930 .91 0.29 1992 1829 .95 0.23
attitudes of children toward studying French and 1761 .90 0.30 1993 1852 .93 0.25
Spanish in elementary school. For each cohort, 1259 NA NA 1994 1308 NA NA
we report mean responses to the five questions 1232 .75 0.43 1995 1311 .83 0.38
over time followed by mean responses by gender. 6182 .87 0.34 Total 6300 .91 0.29
The results are interpreted based on the research Continue with FL next year?
questions. Appendix A links each FPEI item to the 1930 NA NA 1992 1829 NA NA
appropriate research question. 1761 .69 0.46 1993 1852 .77 0.42
1259 .53 0.50 1994 1308 .61 0.50
1232 .64 0.48 1995 1311 .73 0.48
Cohort 1 District A, 1992–1995, Second to Fifth 6182 .63 0.48 Total 6300 .71 0.45
Grade. Table 1 summarizes student responses in Use FL at home or with friends?
Cohort 1 District A, which was first surveyed in 1930 NA NA 1992 1829 NA NA
second grade in 1992 and last surveyed as fifth 1761 .39 0.49 1993 1952 .51 0.50
graders in 1995. Data are presented for both gen- 1259 NA NA 1994 1308 NA NA
ders and each year of data collection, as well as 1232 .31 0.46 1995 1311 .41 0.49
totals for both genders and all years. The value 6182 .36 0.48 Total 6300 .36 0.48
NA corresponds to not asked due to the absence Understand what FL teacher says?
of the question for particular years. 1930 NA NA 1992 1829 NA NA
Statistics by gender for the 1992–1995 Cohort 1761 .54 0.50 1993 1952 .60 0.49
1259 NA NA 1994 1308 NA NA
1 District A, appear in Table 2. For all students,
1232 .48 0.50 1995 1311 .48 0.50
regardless of their grade, females had a more pos- 6182 .52 0.50 Total 6300 .59 0.49
itive attitude than boys for each of the pertinent
items. Girls also had a higher mean score for each Note. NA = This item was not asked for this cohort
item than boys. in this year.
a
Yes = 1; No = 0.
For Cohort 1 District A, the data indicated that
for every question, girls scored higher than boys.
For mean scores across time, there was a down-
ward trend. For girls, the item “Do you like for- a drop of 8%; for girls (.93 to .83), it is a drop of
eign language class?” declined from .90 to .59 in 5%. The third item, “Are you going to continue
4 years. The observed decline for boys was from with the foreign language the next year?” showed
.84 to .51. In relative terms, both boys and girls a drop in the score followed by an increase in the
expressed a loss of liking of FL of about 17% observed value. Both girls and boys exhibited a
in 4 years. Research for other subject areas in- similar wave-type pattern. Because there was no
dicates that student attitudes also decline as stu- information for the 1992 year for this cohort, one
dents become older and are promoted to higher cannot see a definite trend for this item. A higher
grades. Davies and Brember (1994), for instance, score in the final year of measure, corresponding
determined that despite positive attitudes toward to fifth graders, seems to indicate a greater aware-
school, specific subjects were perceived in an in- ness on the part of the students of the importance
creasingly negative light. of learning an FL.
The second item, “Is the foreign language The fourth item, “Sometimes I use the foreign
teacher fun?” also showed a downward trend. language at home or with friends” appeared in the
Both genders scored higher than they did for the third- and fifth-grade surveys. There was a decline
previous item, which indicated a particular liking in the proportion for both boys and girls. Intu-
of the teacher. Over time, however, the enthusi- itively, this finding is unexpected because there is
asm declined. The decline for boys (.90 to .75) is an expectation of increased usage of FL due to the
156 The Modern Language Journal 91 (2007)
TABLE 2
Means by Gender for Cohort 1 District A, 1992–1995, Grades 2 to 5
Gender N Ma SD t df Sig (2-tailed)

Do you like the FL class? Boys 6157 .71 0.45 –7.53 124321 0.000
Girls 6276 .77 0.42
Is the FL teacher fun? Boys 4914 .87 0.34 – 7.155 9888 0.000
Girls 4976 .91 0.29
Do you want to continue Boys 4231 .63 0.48 –8.191 8679 0.000
with FL next year? Girls 4450 .71 0.45
Sometimes I use the FL at Boys 2983 .36 0.48 –8.179 6140 0.000
home or with friends. Girls 3159 .47 0.50
Most of the time I Boys 2979 .52 0.50 –5.658 6123 0.000
understand what the Girls 3146 .59 0.49
teacher is saying.
a
Yes = 1; No = 0.

larger number of years of contact. The decline is Cohort 3 District A, 1993–1995, Second to Fourth
negligible. Grade. Cohort 3 District A (first surveyed in second
The fifth item, “Most of the time I understand grade in 1993 and last surveyed as fourth graders
what the foreign language teacher is saying” was in 1995) follow the same downward trends of Co-
more stable than the other four items. More or horts 1 and 2. As Table 5 shows, over time, as
less both girls and boys fluctuate over time with
similar proportions, with the noted higher aver-
age for girls, as it occurs with the other four items TABLE 3
surveyed. The lower proportion for this item may Means Over Time for Cohort 2 District A, 1992–
indicate comprehension difficulties as the instruc- 1994, Grades 3 to 5
tion becomes more complex. Boys Girls
For all cohorts, the strongest observed decline Do you like
related to Question 1. It was also the only ques- N Ma SD FL class? N Ma SD
tion with complete data for 4 years measured for
1657 .81 0.39 1992 1652 .85 0.36
District A. The data confirm that students lose in-
1810 .67 0.47 1993 1740 .72 0.45
terest in FL as they move to higher grades. 1279 .57 0.50 1994 1265 .61 0.49
4746 .69 0.46 Total 4657 .73 0.44
Cohort 2 District A, 1992–1994, Third to Fifth Is FL teacher fun?
Grade. Table 3 shows differences over time for Co- 1657 .94 0.24 1992 1652 .96 0.19
hort 2, which was first surveyed in the third grade 1810 NA NA 1993 1740 NA NA
in 1992 and last surveyed in the fifth grade in 1994. 1279 .79 0.41 1994 1265 .82 0.38
As noted previously, a consistent decline in liking 4746 .87 0.33 Total 4657 .90 0.30
the FL teacher was evident for both genders. In Continue with FL?
relative terms, the drop was about the same for 1657 .74 0.44 1992 1652 .79 0.41
1810 .57 0.49 1993 1740 .61 0.49
boys (.81 to .57) and girls (.85 to .61), that is,
1279 .54 0.50 1994 1265 .62 0.49
about 13%.
4746 .61 0.47 Total 4746 .67 0.46
For the remaining four items, and allowing for
Use FL at home/friends?
missing data for some years, there persisted a con- 1657 .42 0.49 1992 1652 .79 0.41
sistent pattern of decline in interest. The students’ 1810 NA NA 1993 1740 NA NA
attraction to the teacher dropped, as well as the in- 1279 .30 0.46 1994 1265 .40 0.49
terest in continuing with FL. The items question- 4746 .37 0.48 Total 4657 .48 0.50
ing FL usage and comprehension, respectively, Understand FL teacher?
also declined with little exception. 1657 .57 0.50 1992 1652 .64 0.48
Table 4 shows the same general pattern ob- 1810 NA NA 1993 1740 NA NA
served for other cohorts for District A as well 1279 .47 0.50 1994 1265 .57 0.50
as for District B. Female students scored higher 4746 .53 0.50 Total 4657 .61 0.49
than boys for all five items in the survey. The dif- Note. NA = This item was not asked for this cohort
ferences were all significant at the .001 level of in this year.
confidence. a
Yes = 1; No = 0.
Audrey L. Heining–Boynton and Thomas Haitema 157
TABLE 4
Means by Gender for Cohort 2 District A, 1992–1994, Grades 3 to 5
Gender N Ma SD t df Sig (2-Tailed)

Do you like the FL class? Boys 4731 .69 0.46 –4.662 9367 0.000
Girls 4638 .73 0.44
Is the FL teacher fun? Boys 2931 .87 0.33 –3.265 5834 0.001
Girls 2905 .90 0.30
Do you want to continue Boys 4731 .63 0.48 –4.983 9374 0.000
with FL next year? Girls 4645 .67 0.47
Sometimes I use the FL at Boys 2934 .37 0.48 –8.983 5842 0.000
home or with friends. Girls 2910 .48 0.50
Most of the time I Boys 2918 .53 0.50 –6.152 5825 0.000
understand what the Girls 2909 .61 0.49
teacher is saying.
a
Yes = 1; No = 0.

the students grew older and advanced to higher These differences can perhaps best be explained
grades, both girls and boys exhibited an already as resulting from district characteristics. District B
seen downward tendency for Item 1, the liking of is a smaller school system, with a more homoge-
FL class. Girls had a much higher starting point nous population and greater achievement levels.
(.91) than boys (.86). The relative drop in liking
FL was about 11%.
For the remaining items in the survey, it is diffi- TABLE 5
cult to draw conclusions about changes over time Means Over Time for Cohort 3 District A, 1993–
because for these items there are missing points 1995, Grades 2 to 4
resulting from the absence of the question dur- Boys Girls
ing the surveys. In general, students of both gen- Do you like
ders liked their teachers (Item 2) very much. But N Ma SD FL class? N Ma SD
their inclination to continue with FL dropped,
1883 .86 0.34 1993 1808 .91 0.28
and their usage of the FL, as well as their compre-
1411 .72 0.45 1994 1425 .82 0.38
hension of it, dropped to mean levels observed in 1384 .63 0.48 1995 1394 .69 0.46
other cohorts. 4678 .75 0.43 Total 4627 .82 0.38
Table 6 shows that the same earlier pattern of Is FL teacher fun?
differences between girls and boys were repeated 1883 .93 0.25 1993 1808 .94 0.23
for this cohort. The differences were statistically 1411 .88 0.32 1994 1425 .92 0.27
significant at the alpha = .05 level. For all five 1384 NA NA 1995 1394 NA NA
items, girls had higher means than boys. 4678 .91 0.29 Total 4627 .93 0.25
Continue with FL?
Cohort 4 District B, 1993–1995, Second to Fourth 1883 NA NA 1993 1808 NA NA
1411 .67 0.47 1994 1425 .76 0.43
Grade. When one examines the trends over time
1384 .55 0.50 1995 1394 .59 0.49
(Table 7), it is clear that as the members of Cohort
4678 .61 0.49 Total 4627 .68 0.47
4 District B (first surveyed in second grade in 1993
Use FL at home/friends?
and last surveyed as fourth graders in 1995) grew 1883 NA NA 1993 1808 NA NA
older and advanced to higher grades, a pattern 1411 .39 0.49 1994 1425 .53 0.50
similar to that observed for District A is evident. 1384 NA NA 1995 1394 NA NA
Item one, “Do you like foreign language class?” 4678 .39 0.49 Total 4627 .53 0.50
revealed disparities for girls and boys. The latter Understand FL teacher?
group displayed similar downward trends as those 1883 NA NA 1993 1808 NA NA
observed in District A, whereas for the girls, move- 1411 .59 0.49 1994 1425 .65 0.48
ment was in the opposite direction. 1384 NA NA 1995 1394 NA NA
Item 2, “Is the foreign language teacher fun?” 4678 .59 0.49 Total 4627 .65 0.48
showed differences for boys and girls in opposite Note. NA = This item was not asked for this cohort
directions. Boys tended to like the teachers as they in this year.
grew older; the opposite was the case for the girls. a
Yes = 1; No = 0.
158 The Modern Language Journal 91 (2007)
TABLE 6
Means by Gender for Cohort 3 District A, 1993–1995, Grades 2 to 4
Gender N Ma SD t df Sig (2-Tailed)

Do you like the FL class? Boys 4660 .75 0.43 –7.990 9264 0.000
Girls 4606 .82 0.38
Is the FL teacher fun? Boys 3290 .91 0.29 –3.622 6517 0.000
Girls 3229 .93 0.25
Do you want to continue Boys 2781 .61 0.49 –5.188 5589 0.000
with FL next year? Girls 2810 .68 0.47
Sometimes I use the FL at Boys 1407 .39 0.49 –7.600 2826 0.000
home or with friends. Girls 1421 .53 0.50
Most of the time I Boys 1409 .59 0.49 –3.584 2830 0.000
understand what the Girls 1423 .63 0.48
teacher is saying.
a
Yes = 1; No = 0.

Item 3, “Do you want to continue with the Items 4 and 5, owing to just one time period
foreign language next year?” exhibited the same when the questions were asked, are to be taken as
downward trend as in District A. Both girls and a single measure of opinion regarding the use and
boys showed a decline in interest. comprehension of FL. The observed proportions
were just as low as those observed for District A.
Table 8 shows an already noted difference be-
TABLE 7
tween girls and boys. For all five items, the girls
Means Over Time for Cohort 4 District B, 1993– scored higher than the boys. The item with the
1995, Grades 2 to 4 smallest difference was “Do you want to continue
with foreign language next year?” The most im-
Boys Girls portant fact derived from Table 8 is the higher
Do you like
N Ma SD FL class? N Ma SD receptivity of girls to FL instruction.
Cohort 5 District B, 1993–1995, Third to Fifth
362 .76 0.43 1993 351 .82 0.39
175 .69 0.47 1994 206 .78 0.41 Grade. Table 9 illustrates differences over time for
237 .62 0.49 1995 246 .94 0.24 Cohort 5 District B (first surveyed as third graders
774 .70 0.46 Total 803 .78 0.24 in 1993 and last surveyed as fifth graders in 1995).
Is FL teacher fun? An already noted decline in the interest for FL was
362 .84 0.36 1993 351 .91 0.29 once again evident for both girls and boys in their
175 .93 0.25 1994 206 .98 0.14 liking of the world language they were studying.
237 .89 0.31 1995 246 .72 0.24 In this cohort, the boys’ attitudes dropped more
774 .88 0.33 Total 803 .94 0.24 than those of girls.
Continue with FL? For the remaining items surveyed, the most no-
362 NA NA 1993 351 NA NA ticeable difference compared to other cohorts was
175 .66 0.47 1994 206 .73 0.45
the substantial drop in the interest in continuing
237 .58 0.49 1995 246 .64 0.48
with FL study for the year 1994. Both boys and girls
774 .62 0.49 Total 803 .68 0.47
showed minimal interest in pursuing the subject at
Use FL at home/friends?
362 NA NA 1993 351 NA NA the end of the fourth grade. This minimal interest
175 .37 0.48 1994 206 .54 0.50 in pursuing FL study by both genders must be due
237 NA NA 1995 246 NA NA to something specific and unusual that occurred
774 .37 0.48 Total 803 .54 0.50 in District B that year. When compared with other
Understand FL teacher? cohorts for the same district or similar cohorts in
362 NA NA 1993 351 NA NA the other district, the low mean score observed in
175 .63 0.48 1994 206 .75 0.44 District B seemed out of the ordinary. As with all
237 NA NA 1995 246 NA NA previous cohorts, Cohort 5 girls had higher means
774 .63 0.48 Total 803 .75 0.44 than boys (Table 10). Even with smaller samples,
Note. NA = This item was not asked for this cohort all five items surveyed showed statistically signifi-
in this year. cant differences for boys and girls at the .05 level
a
Yes = 1; No = 0. of confidence.
Audrey L. Heining–Boynton and Thomas Haitema 159
TABLE 8
Means by Gender for Cohort 4 District B, 1993–1995, Grades 2 to 4
Gender N Ma SD t df Sig (2-tailed)

Do you like the FL class? Boys 755 .70 0.46 –3.430 1538 0.001
Girls 785 .78 0.42
Is the FL teacher fun? Boys 761 .88 0.33 –4.004 1546 0.000
Girls 787 .94 0.24
Do you want to continue Boys 381 .62 0.49 –1.803 798 0.072
with FL next year? Girls 419 .68 0.47
Sometimes I use the FL at Boys 175 .37 0.48 –3.471 378 0.001
home or with friends. Girls 205 .54 0.50
Most of the time I Boys 175 .63 0.48 –2.407 379 0.017
understand what the Girls 206 .75 0.44
teacher is saying.
a
Yes = 1; No = 0.

What follows are the answers to the research RQ 1, How Do Student Attitudes Toward FL Study
questions for the elementary school study. Ap- Change Over Time? The FPEI has two items that
pendix A identifies each survey item and the re- examine student attitudes toward FL classes and
search question that it answers. teachers. Data in the tables indicate that student
attitudes indeed change over time but in largely a
downward direction characteristic of both boys
TABLE 9 and girls. This change was statistically signifi-
Means Over Time for Cohort 5 District B, 1993– cant, although responses overall were positive.
1995, Grades 3 to 5 The overall positive attitude could be a result of
the FLES teachers’ use of age-appropriate ped-
Boys Girls agogical techniques, such that the students re-
Do you like
N M a
SD FL class? N Ma SD mained interested and excited about learning the
FL.
129 .81 0.39 1993 137 .80 0.40 It is interesting that studies on other subjects
175 .66 0.48 1994 154 .78 0.42 indicate a serious loss of enthusiasm when stu-
144 .63 0.49 1995 162 .75 0.43
dents (both genders) become negative in their
448 .69 0.46 Total 453 .78 0.42
attitudes; for example, reading (Kush & Watkins,
Is FL teacher fun?
1996) social studies (Haldyna & Thomas, 1979),
129 .96 0.19 1993 137 .98 0.15
175 NA NA 1994 154 NA NA or math for females (Davies & Brember, 1994).
144 .83 0.37 1995 162 .92 0.27 Student attitudes toward FLES seem to remain in
448 .89 0.31 Total 453 .95 0.23 the positive range on most measures.
Continue with FL?
129 .70 0.46 1993 137 .71 0.46 RQ 2, How Does the Desire of Students to Continue
175 .13 0.34 1994 154 .16 0.36 With FL Study Change Over Time? The prompt
144 .38 0.49 1995 162 .61 0.49 from the FPEI survey that corresponds to this re-
448 .37 0.48 Total 453 .49 0.50 search question asks “Do you want to continue
Use FL at home/friends? with the foreign language next year?” The group
129 .38 0.49 1993 137 .49 0.50
statistics in the current study indicated that the
175 NA NA 1994 154 NA NA
girls had more desire to continue FL studies than
144 .32 0.47 1995 162 .42 0.50
448 .35 0.48 Total 453 .77 0.42 the boys, and the difference was statistically signif-
Understand FL teacher? icant. In all cohorts, the girls had higher means
129 .59 0.49 1993 137 .69 0.46 than the boys. These means, with the exception of
175 NA NA 1994 154 NA NA one cohort, were also in the positive range. Only
144 .63 0.48 1995 162 .83 0.37 the girls in Cohort 5 (District B, 1993–1995, grades
448 .61 0.49 Total 453 .77 0.42 3 to 5) showed a neutral attitude toward continu-
Note. NA= This item was not asked for this cohort in ing their FL experience. The girls in this cohort
this year. had neutral attitudes, whereas the boys had neg-
a
Yes = 1; No = 0. ative attitudes. The boys in all the other cohorts
160 The Modern Language Journal 91 (2007)
TABLE 10
Means by Gender for Cohort 5 District B, 1993–1995, Grades 3 to 5
Gender N Ma SD t df Sig (2-Tailed)

Do you like the FL class? Boys 447 .69 0.46 –2.884 896 0.004
Girls 451 .78 0.42
Is the FL teacher fun? Boys 273 .89 0.31 –2.346 570 0.019
Girls 299 .95 0.23
Do you want to continue Boys 447 .37 0.48 –3.413 898 0.001
with FL next year? Girls 453 .49 0.50
Sometimes I use the FL at Boys 271 .35 0.48 –2.543 566 0.011
home or with friends. Girls 297 .45 0.50
Most of the time I Boys 272 .61 0.49 –4.143 568 0.000
understand what the Girls 298 .77 0.42
teacher is saying.
a
Yes = 1; No = 0.

exhibited neutral attitudes toward continued FL
study. In sum, the loss of enthusiasm for FL study
over the 4 years of the current study, although
statistically significant, still resulted in generally
positive attitudes for the girls and in neutral atti-
tudes for the boys.
RQ 3, How Do the Students’ Attempts to Use the
Language Outside Class Change Over Time? Statis-
tics for the respondents in this study indicated
that the use of the FL outside class was, on
the whole, something the students, especially the
boys, viewed in a negative manner. Individual co-
horts had essentially the same distribution, with
the boys consistently in the negative range, and
the girls more in the neutral range.
That there should be such a negative percep-
tion of the use of a language other than English
outside class might be attributable to the chil-
dren’s attitudes toward school in general, whereby
activities associated with school, such as FL use,
might undergo the same loss of prestige and de-
sirability as school does itself. Studies cited pre-
viously, notably those by Haldyna and Thomas
(1979) and Davies and Brember (1994, 2001), in-
dicate a general decline in overall attitude toward
school. Nevertheless, it seems paradoxical that for
the most part there should be such a positive atti-
tude toward the FL classes and teachers, but not
toward the use of the subject matter itself.
RQ 4, How Do Students Feel Their Linguistic Com-
petence Changes Over Time? In this study, the girls
had a more positive attitude than the boys. Final
means for individual cohorts indicated that the
male attitudes were in the neutral range, whereas
the female attitudes were neutral in three of the
five cohorts and positive in the remaining two (Co-
horts 4 and 5).
RQ 5, Are There Gender Differences in Attitudes
Toward FL Study, and if so, Do They Change Over
Time? The data yielded an affirmative response to
both parts of this research question. For each of
the five prompts in the FPEI, the boys and girls
showed statistically significant differences. For in-
dividual cohorts, statistically significant gender
differences were evident for every prompt, except
one.
As previous discussion has revealed, in almost
all cases, the means for both the boys and the
girls declined and indicated a loss of positive atti-
tude toward all aspects of FL learning examined.
In some cases, the differences between the means
were even more pronounced over time. The dif-
ferences between the means were significant, at
the alpha = .05 level. The boys tended to start with
more negative attitudes and, generally speaking,
remained more negative, even as the girls’ atti-
tudes declined. In some instances, the girls almost
equaled or overtook the boys on the final adminis-
tration of the survey. In a few instances, the change
in attitude for one gender was two or three times
greater than that of the other. The final group
means were often in the positive range. Only one
item, “Sometimes I use the foreign language at
home or with my friends,” had final means for
boys and girls in the lower neutral range. There-
fore, we can conclude that although the means
declined significantly, the majority of individual
cohort means were either positive, or at worst,
neutral. In addition, although the declines were
statistically significant in this large sample, most
changes were, in fact, small.
HIGH SCHOOL FOLLOW-UP STUDY
How do student perceptions of early language
learning carry over to the high school years? As
Audrey L. Heining–Boynton and Thomas Haitema
a follow-up to the quantitative, 4-year study, 13
high school students who had participated in the
elementary school study were interviewed about
their perceptions of FL learning as adolescents.
The interviews were designed to answer the fol-
lowing research questions:
1. How do former FLES students feel that their
FL instruction affected their perceptions of FL
speakers?
2. How do former FLES students feel that their
FL instruction affected their perceptions of for-
eign cultures?
3. How do former FLES students feel that their
FL instruction affected their perceptions of their
own FL education?
Design of the Study
The high school follow-up study used open-
ended, taped telephone interviews with students
instead of written questionnaires. The interviews
were done by the researchers.
Development and Validity of the Open-Ended Ques-
tionnaire. To create the questions for the open-
ended interviews, the researchers held focus
discussion groups with former FLES students. The
topics that emerged from the discussions were the
FLES classes themselves; teachers and classroom
activities; use of the FL outside class; student at-
titudes toward foreigners; travel to other coun-
tries; future plans for either FL use or study, or
both. The interview format was constructed based
on the discussions in these focus groups (see
Appendix B). The interviews consisted of eight
questions. The first three questions supplied de-
mographic data. Questions 4 through 6 solicited
more detailed information through the use of ad-
ditional probes.
Face and content validity were established for
the interview questionnaire by examining the
items and determining that they indeed reflected
the intent of the instrument, which was to deter-
mine attitudes toward FL instruction. The items
reflected those of the FPEI. No extraneous items
could be considered irrelevant to the research.
Analytical Methods. For the follow-up interviews
with the high school students who had partici-
pated in the elementary school study, a template
analysis (Crabtree & Miller, 1994) was used. This
type of analysis uses prefigured categories that
are open to reconfiguration as the analysis of
the data proceeds. For the present study, these
categories corresponded to three areas presum-
ably affected by the study of FLES: perceptions of
161
speakers of languages other than English, percep-
tions of foreign cultures, and perceptions of stu-
dents’ own need and use for a language other than
English.
To ascertain the themes of the responses,
the researchers followed Patton’s (1990) sug-
gestion to identify regularities to be classified
and place those regularities into categories. The
categories must have two main characteristics:
internal homogeneity (similarity of the data)
and external heterogeneity (clear differences be-
tween categories). For the interview questions di-
rected toward the students’ attitudes, reviewing
the transcripts revealed categories. Preliminary
classifications were done by the researchers and
cross-checked by an independent reviewer. Ini-
tially, there was an 80% coincidence of designa-
tions. Where variances existed, adjustments were
made after discussion and mutual agreement. The
final categories used to describe the attitudes of
the high school students toward FL speakers, for-
eign cultures, and their own foreign language
study were sympathetic or indifferent/negative; posi-
tive or pragmatic; intrinsic or value-added.
Description of the Participants. For the follow-up
study, the population comprised all students who
had studied either French or Spanish in District
A and B while in the elementary school. The pro-
cess for receiving approval to conduct research
in Districts A and B was a lengthy one. Adminis-
trative constraints prohibited District B from par-
ticipating in the follow-up study. After District A
granted approval to conduct the study, 180 con-
tact letters were sent to 13 teachers at 12 differ-
ent high schools. A note to the classroom teacher
requested that the letters be given to those stu-
dents considered the most responsible and likely
to respond.
As a result of the requests, 13 students (5 males
and 8 females) agreed to be interviewed. These
students were all in the 11th or 12th grade and
between the ages of 16 and 18. They were enrolled
in all levels of an FL from Level 1 to Advanced
Placement literature. Their levels of proficiency
or achievement were not determined.
The 13 students were enrolled in FL courses,
which automatically excluded any students who
either had not chosen to continue with their FL
studies or were not enrolled in an FL course
at the time of the interviews. Also not repre-
sented were rural students. Nevertheless, the stu-
dents surveyed represent a cross section of high
school students studying a language in addition
to English at the high school level who began FL
study in elementary school. As the results report,
162 The Modern Language Journal 91 (2007)
they held differing attitudes toward a language TABLE 11
other than English. These findings confirm what Sympathetic or Indifferent/Negative Perceptions of
was reported in the review of previous research Foreign Language Speakers
on attitudes toward other subject areas (Davies & Student Sympathetic Indifferent/Negative
Brember, 1994, 2001; Haldyna & Thomas, 1979;
Reynolds & Walberg, 1992a, 1992b). Female 1 X
Female 2 X X
Female 3 X
Results
Female 4 X
The results of the high school follow-up study Female 5 X
Female 6 X
follow. First, the demographic data of the respon-
Female 7 X
dents are reported, followed by a reporting of the Female 8 X
data based on the three research questions for this
study. Male 1 X
Male 2 X
Male 3 X
Demographic Data. Eight females and 5 males
Male 4 X
participated in the follow-up study. Male 1 stud- Male 5 X
ied Spanish in elementary school and was study-
ing Spanish as well as Latin in high school. Male
2 studied French in elementary school and was I think that my foreign language study has been bene-
studying Spanish 4 in high school. Male 4 studied ficial to my overall attitude towards people who don’t
speak English. (Male 2)
Spanish in K–5 and was in French 3 at the time of
the study. Female 4 studied both French and Span-
He (the FLES teacher) came from a real poor part of
ish in elementary school and was in Spanish 1 in Puerto Rico so his description of it makes us not take
high school. All other students studied Spanish in for granted what we have because these people have
their elementary schools and were studying Span- it a whole lot worse. (Female 2)
ish in high school. In North Carolina, students
may select the language(s) they wish to study in
I’m definitely more open than those who haven’t had
high school (and middle school if FL is offered). Spanish ’cause I know that some of those people are
They are not required to continue with the FL kind’a negative towards the Hispanic people that are
they began in the elementary school. Appendix C in this country. (Female 3)
presents the demographic data of the 13 students
interviewed. Selected quotations categorized as indiffer-
ent/negative are:
RQ 1, How Do Former FLES Students Feel That
I don’t really think it’s an issue. I didn’t absorb a lot.
Their Early FL Instruction Affected Their Percep-
I’ve got to say that the class as a whole in elementary
tions of FL Speakers? In response to the questions was pretty useless. (Male 1)
on attitudes toward FL speakers, the results
were categorized as either sympathetic or indif- I don’t know that they (elementary foreign language
ferent/negative. A sympathetic response actively classes) really have (affected attitudes toward foreign
showed a positive attitude toward FL speakers. language speakers). I can hardly remember the classes
Responses coded as indifferent/negative were themselves. They were actually pretty useless. I don’t
neutral in their viewpoints toward the speak- think it really affected my attitudes really. (Male 4)
ers of languages other than English, with neg-
ative opinions toward their FLES classes. No Just because, I mean, with immigration and all just
indifferent/negative responses indicated any sort because it will keep increasing. I don’t think I would
be against Spanish. I wouldn’t go out of my way for it
of mistrust or dislike of FL speakers. Table 11
but I wouldn’t hold them (my future children) from
shows the categorization of the interviewees’ it either. (Female 2)
responses.
Female 2 expressed opinions that were clas- In sum, 9 of the 13 high school students inter-
sified in both of the categories. Overall, there viewed felt that their FLES classes provided them
were 7 females and 3 males whose responses were with a platform for developing positive attitudes
classified as sympathetic, and 2 females and 2 toward FL speakers. Those students who did not
males whose responses were classified as indiffer- share a positive view of FL study in elementary
ent/negative. Representative comments from the school did not express negative views of people
sympathetic designation include: from other cultures.
Audrey L. Heining–Boynton and Thomas Haitema
RQ 2, How Do Former FLES Students Feel That
Their Early FL Instruction Affected Their Perceptions
of Foreign Cultures? The second focus of the follow-
up interviews was to discover the students’ percep-
tions of foreign cultures. These responses were
classified as either positive or pragmatic. A positive
response reflected an enthusiastic or affirmative
attitude toward foreign cultures. The pragmatic
category was employed for answers from respon-
dents who did not enthusiastically or even pos-
itively endorse a multicultural viewpoint but ac-
cepted the need to understand other cultures
and their languages. Table 12 reports the results
and representative comments from those who re-
sponded in a positive manner follow.
So it (FLES) helped me realize that we’re not so much
isolated countries but that we’re one big world and
we’re all in this together. (Female 7)
When your perspectives are broadened like that
(through FLES) in elementary school the impact
is just huge. It definitely made me more welcom-
ing of other peoples’ cultures and perspectives.
(Male 5)
One participant expressed the following repre-
sentative pragmatic perception:
I think it is very important with the job market the way
it is. With the constant rise in Hispanic population and
immigrants, legal or illegal, in the United States and
it’s a matter of adapting, of us adapting whether we
want to or not. (Male 1)
RQ 3, How Do Former FLES Students Feel That
Their Early FL Instruction Affected Their Perceptions
of Their Own FL Education? Of the 13 respondents,
7 students felt that the study of language was in
163
itself valuable; the other 6 viewed FL study as a
means to an end. The researchers gave the labels
intrinsic and value-added to these two types of opin-
ions. Table 13 presents the tally of these responses.
The following observations by several respondents
exemplify the intrinsic viewpoint about their own
education and FL study.
I liked how we would take a different country every
week and learn facts about them and how the people
lived. And that was cool ’cause it made you think about
what you already had too. (Male 5)
I don’t know what I want to do yet but I know I want
to do something to help people. And if I can talk
to foreign people that would be cool. So if I could
communicate with them it would be good. (Female 6)
I love Spanish to pieces . . . . I definitely aspire to raise
my children bilingual . . . . I can’t imagine my life with-
out Spanish. (Female 7)
Even though I’m not really that good I plan on trying
to learn more. (Female 8)
The other respondents were not intrinsically
motivated to learn an FL. Several actively disliked
the thought of learning more but expressed the
knowledge of benefits derived from acquiring a
certain level of linguistic ability. Representative
quotations from the value-added responses by the
students include:
It (foreign language) just makes you a smarter person.
(Male 2)
I don’t think it (foreign language use) is necessary but
it can get you ahead. If you know a foreign language
you can get a lot more jobs and it gives you more
opportunities. I will need to learn Spanish at some
point. I don’t really like the language, I think it just
sounds crude but I’ll have to learn it. (Male 4)

TABLE 12 TABLE 13
Positive or Pragmatic Perceptions of Foreign Intrinsic or Value-Added Perceptions of Their Own
Cultures Education and Foreign Language Study
Student Positive Pragmatic/Utilitarian Student Intrinsic Value-Added

Female 1 X X Female 1 X
Female 2 X Female 2 X
Female 3 X Female 3 X
Female 4 X Female 4 X
Female 5 X Female 5 X
Female 6 X Female 6 X
Female 7 X Female 7 X
Female 8 X Female 8 X
Male 1 X X Male 1 X
Male 2 X Male 2 X
Male 3 X Male 3 X
Male 4 X Male 4 X
Male 5 X Male 5 X X
164
SUMMARY AND SYNTHESIS
It is important to review the results from both
the elementary and the high school studies, and to
draw overall conclusions from both studies. The
results of the elementary school study of a hetero-
geneous group of elementary students indicated
that the female students were more interested in
FL study than the males. As the females took ad-
ditional classes in the subject and became older,
their interest in FL declined. For both genders,
the liking of the teacher and the subject matter,
the continuation of study, and the external use of
FL showed a steady decline.
The FPEI survey can be divided into two groups
of items. The first group surveys the general will-
ingness to learn and accept the teacher as a facili-
tator of new knowledge, and treats FL as input to
the students’ knowledge base. The second group
of FPEI items surveys the students’ usage of the
acquired knowledge as output. The higher means
for the willingness to learn measures observed for
all cohorts in both districts indicates a general ac-
ceptance of FL study, a desire to please, and an
openness to something new. By contrast, the ob-
served lower means for the second group of items
indicate the difficulties that the students in lower
grades had in using the FL in external settings.
Because environment influences the application
of the knowledge base, it might be expected that,
with the exception of bilingual home settings, stu-
dents would tend to develop a less enthusiastic
opinion of FL as an output, as something they can
use daily.
As the statistics show, the students became in-
creasingly disenchanted with FL over the span of
their elementary school career. Nevertheless, it is
important to remember that finding this statis-
tically significant change was influenced by the
nature of the sampling. Rather than surveying
only a portion of the possible participants, we sur-
veyed nearly all the students and excluded only
students absent on the day of the survey. This
universal inclusion made the statistical tests ex-
tremely sensitive to even small changes in the
means.
The high school study was done 10 years af-
ter the students began their FL learning. How
did their attitudes change over time? How closely
did the perceptions that they reported as chil-
dren mirror their perceptions as adolescents?
When asked “Did you like your FLES class?” 11
of the 13 high school respondents said “yes.” Al-
though there were more positive than negative
comments, Male 4’s responses are important to
note. He said that:
The Modern Language Journal 91 (2007)
It was actually really pointless. I was young and I didn’t
know much about the world but I knew that it was just
really stupid. I mean if they couldn’t bring teachers
in there to teach us all the time then it meant it was
pretty worthless. (Male 4)
Children and adolescents are knowledgeable
consumers. Male 4’s attitude toward FLES indi-
cates that he knew that it was not an integral part
of his elementary curriculum, as opposed to sci-
ence, mathematics, or language arts. This fact led
him at an early age to perceive from the limited
amount of contact time that learning a language
other than English was less important than learn-
ing other subjects from the core curriculum.
After 10 years had passed since the initial FPEI
student survey, how did the adolescent respon-
dents feel about continuing FL study? Female 5
and Male 4 did not want to continue their study
of languages other than English; all others did.
I went into middle school Spanish for three years. Es-
sentially I did level one in sixth and seventh grades and
then I took level two in eighth grade. I went into high
school at level three. I think that elementary school is
what has really opened my eyes to Spanish and made
me think that, “Hey, I really enjoyed speaking it. It’s
really fun.” (Female 7)
Even though I’m not really that good I plan on trying
to learn more. I’m planning on becoming a music
education major. Even if I am put in a place where
there is a high level of Hispanic population it will be
a plus. (Female 8)
Although they reported little use of the FL when
they were elementary school students, all but one
high school respondent indicated using the target
language outside the classroom.
The three years of (middle school) French really had
a positive effect on me. And one summer I was off in
England and I heard two women having a conversa-
tion in French and I went over and talked with them.
And I didn’t embarrass myself. It really affected me
because I was so taken with it. (Male 1)
We go to Mexican restaurants all the time so I like to
order in Spanish there. (Female 1)
I remember that one time one of my parents needed
a translator and they called me. It was like the tenth
grade. Then I realized that all this is useful and it’s
real. (Female 7)
The 13 high school students all acknowledged
an improvement over the course of their years
studying another language. Nevertheless, it is
troublesome to note that some of them remem-
bered making little linguistic progress. Also of
Audrey L. Heining–Boynton and Thomas Haitema
concern is Male 3’s comment that expresses the
opinion of many high school world language
learners.
I think they (FLES classes) were pretty good. You know
we had them 2 days a week for 30 minutes at a time. I
mean it wasn’t a long amount of time we studied for
but I feel that for the amount of time we learned a lot.
(Female 1)
I always felt like kind of confused ’cause I didn’t
know it very good. Like I didn’t know what the words
meant that I was saying. We would just repeat what the
teacher said. (Female 4)
I felt that I was very talented in the Spanish language
just because I knew how to say the alphabet very fast.
We really didn’t go much beyond numbers and ran-
dom words. (Female 8)
I’d love to actually learn how to speak it, but our
teacher makes it so hard to do I’ll never be able to.
(Male 3)
In conclusion, the analysis from the combined
10 years of data indicates that there was indeed
a positive impact attributable to FLES instruction
on a student’s perception of speakers of languages
other than English, foreign cultures, and how
FL study impacts their education. These findings
support earlier quantitative research by Vollmer
(1962), who observed that students who had re-
ceived FLES instruction were almost twice as likely
to persist into higher levels of FL instruction in
high school as students who did not receive FLES
instruction. We are at a point in this country where
ensuring that students commit to a long sequence
of language study is paramount, and beginning
language study at the elementary school is one
way of doing so.
LIMITATIONS OF THE STUDIES
The elementary school study was limited to a
statistical examination of the attitudes of the stu-
dents. There was no attempt to determine the rela-
tionship of student attitudes to linguistic achieve-
ment.
The high school study was limited to students
who were currently studying a world language
who had also been participants in the elemen-
tary school study in District A. Because of school
district constraints, students from District B could
not be included in the study, nor could students
from District A who had chosen not to pursue the
study of an FL.
165
SUGGESTIONS FOR FUTURE RESEARCH
The two studies included in this report lay the
groundwork for a wide array of future research
possibilities. One study would be to determine
the relationship of student attitudes to linguis-
tic achievement. Another study would be to dis-
cover the attitudes and reasoning of high school
students who began FL study in the elementary
school, and then stopped studying an FL in high
school.
Still another important study would be to ex-
plore the impact of teacher retention on student
attitudes. During the same period when their stu-
dents responded to the FPEI, FLES teachers were
also surveyed using the FLES teacher form of the
FPEI. Over the years, they consistently reported
challenging working conditions, such as having
to teach hundreds of students each week for short
periods. Further research is needed to determine
to what degree difficult teaching conditions affect
the attitudes of students.
We have known for decades from educational
psychology research that the teacher is one of
the most important parts in the equation for
students’ success in and their attitudes toward
school. Future research may help world language
teachers find the tools and resources that they
need to nurture positive student attitudes that, as
Gardner (1985) maintained, will lead to higher
achievement.
CONCLUSION
The importance of these two studies is far reach-
ing. First, the enormous size of the elementary
school data compares with the largest educational
studies conducted in other disciplines. One rea-
son for collecting such a large data set was to
demonstrate that teaching world languages in ele-
mentary school is highly similar to teaching other
core subjects such as science and mathematics. In
addition, the combined studies chronicle the im-
portant fact that even young language learners see
the need to begin FL study in elementary school,
and that the programs must have high expec-
tations, rigorous curricula, and strong teaching.
These studies document that attitude formation
toward language learning is a critical component
of early schooling.
Finally, these studies make it clear that as FL
educators, we need to harness the positive desire
of children and adolescents to learn and to be
successful in language learning, as well as to facil-
itate their success, thus ensuring higher levels of
166
language achievement. Perhaps this notion is ex-
pressed best by several of the study’s high school
respondents.
I was excited. I mean I was always excited about having
the teacher come and all. I have positive memories
about it and I just remember that I looked forward to
the teacher coming. (Female 1)
I think it (FLES) helped me at the tender age of 10
to realize that there’s a lot more out there than Amer-
ica, which not a lot of 10 year-olds realize. So it helped
me realize that we’re not so much isolated countries,
but that we’re one big world, and we’re all in this to-
gether. I just love it (foreign language) to pieces. I
can’t imagine my life without it (foreign language).
I definitely aspire to raise my children bilingual.
(Female 7)
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
This research was supported in part by funding
awarded to the first author from The University of North
Carolina at Chapel Hill (UNC–CH), and the Fund-
ing for the Improvement and Reform of Schools and
Teachers (FIRST), U.S. Department of Education. The
authors would like to thank Dr. Catherine Zimmer of
The Odum Institute for Research in the Social Sciences,
UNC–CH, for her invaluable statistical assistance.
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Audrey L. Heining–Boynton and Thomas Haitema 167

APPENDIX A
FLES Program Evaluation Inventory (FPEI) Student Items

Note: The surveys depended on the language offered at the students’ school. The instructions indicated that the
children were to circle the option that best described their feelings. The options given were yes or no. After each item
is the corresponding research question.
Grades K–2 Survey Items
Do you like your (foreign language) class? RQ 1
Is your (foreign language) teacher fun? RQ 1
Is learning (foreign language) fun? RQ 1
Do you want to learn more (foreign language)? RQ 2
Grade 3 Survey Items
I like (foreign language). RQ 1
I like my (foreign language) teacher. RQ 1
Most of the time, I understand what my (foreign language) teacher is saying. RQ 4
This is my first year of (foreign language).
Sometimes I use (foreign language) at home or with my friends. RQ 3
I want to continue (foreign language) next year. RQ 2
Grade 4 Survey Items
I like (foreign language). RQ 1
I like my (foreign language) teacher. RQ 1
I can write some words in (foreign language). RQ 4
I can read some words in (foreign language). RQ 4
We do interesting things in (foreign language) class. RQ 1
This is my first year of (foreign language).
I want to continue (foreign language) next year. RQ 2
Grade 5 Survey Items
I like (foreign language). RQ 1
I like my (foreign language) teacher. RQ 1
Most of the time I understand what my (foreign language) teacher is saying. RQ 4
This is my first year of (foreign language).
Sometimes I use (foreign language) at home or with my friends. RQ 3
I am planning to take (foreign language) next year. RQ 2

APPENDIX B
Follow-Up Interview Questionnaire

1. Which elementary school did you attend?

2. What foreign language(s) did you study in elementary school?
3. How many years of each foreign language did you study?
4. How do you use the foreign language you have learned outside of class?
5. How do you think your attitudes toward people who speak another language have been influenced by your foreign
language study in the elementary school?
6. What do you recall about your foreign language instruction in elementary school?
7. Imagine if you someday have children and they are able to study a foreign language in elementary school. How
do you feel about that?
8. How do you think in the future you may use the foreign language you have been learning in your career?
168 The Modern Language Journal 91 (2007)

APPENDIX C
Demographic Data of Current High School/Former FLES Students
Elementary Grades High School Highest High
Participant Foreign FLES Foreign School Level
ID Language Offered Language of Attainment

Female 1 Spanish K–5 Spanish 3

Female 2 Spanish K–5 Spanish 4
Female 3 Spanish K–5 Spanish 4
Female 4 Spanish 3
French 4–5 Spanish 1
Female 5 Spanish K–5 Spanish 2
Female 6 Spanish K–5 Spanish 2
Female 7 Spanish 3–5 Spanish AP literature
Female 8 Spanish 2–5 Spanish 3
Male 1 Latin 2
Spanish 2–5 Spanish 1
Male 2 French K–5 Spanish 4
Male 3 Spanish K–5 Spanish 3
Male 4 Spanish K–5 French 3
Male 5 Spanish K–5 Spanish 5

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