Post-secondary students' perceptions of their skill acquisition during introductory language courses

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" Post-secondary students' perceptions of their skill acquisition during introductory language courses "
Michelle Lorraine McMullen-Hohnke J. L. Elfenbein

Document Type	:	Latin Dissertation
Language of Document	:	English
Record Number	:	52824
Doc. No	:	TL22778
Call number	:	‭1438136‬
Main Entry	:	Michelle Lorraine McMullen-Hohnke
Title & Author	:	Post-secondary students' perceptions of their skill acquisition during introductory language courses\ Michelle Lorraine McMullen-Hohnke
College	:	Michigan State University
Date	:	2006
Degree	:	M.A.
student score	:	2006
Page No	:	114
Abstract	:	The purpose of this study was to investigate the abilities of students enrolled in introductory language courses to self-assess their new language skills. Students from first-semester American Sign Language, Arabic, Korean, and Spanish courses at Michigan State University completed a questionnaire concerning their willingness to participate in four communication scenarios in which they were asked to interact with a fluent speaker of the language they were studying. The scenarios were based on the work of Lodge-Miller and Elfenbein (1994) who found that students studying introductory Signed English were willing to engage in situations that required trained interpreters. In the current study, the majority of students in each course demonstrated appropriate decision-making skills regarding two relatively simple interactions (i.e., babysitting and communicating with a customer in a store). When presented with two complex interactions (i.e., interpreting for a police officer and a car accident witness, and interpreting for two lawyers and a witness to a fight), however, the majority of students in each course demonstrated poor decision-making skills and/or overconfidence in their responses. The primary justification provided for engaging in situations beyond their skill levels was "to help" their communication partners even though they did not have the skills to help. These findings raise concern about beginning language students' abilities to assess their capabilities and limitations as they use their new skills to interact in their daily life activities.
Subject	:	Health and environmental sciences; Speech therapy; 0460:Speech therapy
Added Entry	:	J. L. Elfenbein
Added Entry	:	Michigan State University