A comparison of student outcomes and attitudes in technology -enhanced vs. traditional second-semester Spanish language courses

Although more and more university-level language programs have begun to replace class time with technology-enhanced instruction, few studies have examined the effect of this substitution on student outcomes. The present study sought to determine whether in an input-based communicative approach to second-semester Spanish it is possible to deliver input-based activities outside of class via the web without negatively affecting student achievement in the course. In addition, it sought to determine what types of individual variables are related to success in technology-enhanced sections of second-semester Spanish.;Approximately 90 undergraduate students enrolled in seven sections of technology-enhanced "Spanish 1002: Beginning Spanish" and "Spanish 1022: Alternate Second-Semester Spanish" at the University of Minnesota were the experimental participants for this study while nearly 70 undergraduate students enrolled in five traditional sections of Spanish 1002 and 1022 served as control group members. In traditional sections, students met with the instructor five days per week while students in experimental sections had class three days per week and were engaged in web-based activities during the other two days. Student performance was tracked throughout the semester along with measures of student motivation, aptitude, and proficiency.;Findings indicated that there were no significant differences between student performance in traditional sections and technology-enhanced sections on course homework assignments, participation, oral interviews, unit exams, composition grades, final exams, and final course grade. There were also no differences in student performance on measures of listening proficiency and oral proficiency administered at the beginning and end of the semester.;From information provided by students in questionnaires administered at the end of the semester and from two focus group sessions, it is clear that none of the variables measured---motivation, anxiety and comfort using computers, computer ability, risk taking, and sociability---predicted success in the technology-enhanced sections of the course. This finding is consistent with other research on predictors of affect on course outcome in technology-enhanced courses (Knight 2000; Lujan-Ortega and Clark-Carter 1998). Currently there are no means of predicting student outcomes in technology-enhanced language courses taking into account affective variables.;Most students in the technology-enhanced sections found numerous advantages in web-enhanced instruction, including better understanding of course concepts, immediate access to information and feedback, more control over their learning, and the ability to work at their own pace.;The study concludes with pedagogical implications, limitations, and suggestions for future research.