Motivation+Survey+Results

I asked students in two high school Spanish classes fill out a survey I created on motivation. One class was a level two, and the other was level 4. The students attend a private Catholic high school in an urban setting. The results were interesting and clearly showed a difference between the two levels in motivational factors between the two levels. It would be interesting to give the survey to other levels and classes in different schools.
 * __[[image:survey.gif width="197" height="187" align="right"]]Motivation Survey:__**

The biggest conclusion that I can draw from this survey experience is that the levels of motivation and motivational factors differ greatly depending on the level. Most students in the Spanish 2 class listed college or grades as their biggest motivators or reason for taking Spanish. Most students expressed a concern in getting into a good university, and they were taking Spanish in order to fulfill language requirements. Very few students had plans to use Spanish in their future profession. Some students thought they might use the language for travel, however, this did not seem to be a huge factor. In the Spanish 4 class, a lot of the students expressed a genuine interest in learning the language. Several students had plans to use Spanish in their future profession or at least viewed bilingualism as an asset. Many students desired to use the language for travel or to communicate with friends. Finally, more students in the Spanish 4 class than the Spanish 2 class had a strong desire to learn the language.
 * __Overall Conclusions:__**

The survey also reinforced the role that grades and competing to get into a good college play in our education system. Grades and college play such a large part in motivating students in our current society. Motivating students would be completely different if these factors were not so strongly emphasized. However, these results probably differ drastically in each different school setting. This specific private school prides itself in the fact that 98% of its graduates continue their education at the college level. In a different school district, the results to this survey may have been drastically different if it was given in other settings. As teachers, we need to realize that all of our learners are diverse, especially from one school to another. As we all know, because of this diversity, it is extremely important that we take time to get to know our students, their interests, and why they are in our class. We will have to vary our techniques depending on the class- the level we are teaching, and our individual students' needs and wants.

__**The survey:**__ 1. Why are you taking Spanish? Explain. Some responses 2. What motivates you or would motivate you to do well in school? Some responses 3. What motivates you or would motivate you to do well specifically in Spanish? Some responses 4. How much do grades affect your effort or performance in Spanish class? 1-  They do not influence my performance at all 2-  They rarely influence my performance 3-  They sometimes influence my performance 4-  They generally have an influence on my performance 5-  They have a large influence on my performance Some responses 5. Do you hope to use your Spanish in your future profession? Explain. Some responses 6. Do you hope to use your Spanish in future travel plans? Explain. Some responses 7. Do you have any friends who family that you communicate with in Spanish or would like to be able to communicate with in Spanish? Explain. Some responses 8. How badly do you want to learn Spanish? 1-  I don’t care about learning Spanish at all 2-  I don’t care that much about learning Spanish 3-  I am indifferent about learning Spanish 4-  I kind of want to learn Spanish 5-  I have a strong desire to learn Spanish Some responses