Problematizing and reexamining the notion of taking another introductory-level language class at college: Adding students’ voices to the conversation at secondary and post-secondary levels
Existing literature shows that discrepancies between the expectations of students and language instructors might discourage high school students from progressing in their language learning at college. This study aims to address such discrepancies by examining students who studied Chinese in high school but were still taking an introductory-level language course at college, with the intention of declaring a minor or major in Chinese Studies at a Midwestern university in the United States. Drawing on the concept of identity and investment, a qualitative research method was employed to address the time- and context-sensitive nature of identity and investment. Data were collected from interviews and reflection journals to reveal their investment in Chinese language learning and how they coalesced their identities as Chinese language learners in high school and college. Findings show that they firmly fought against the stereotypical assumption that taking another introductory-level class at college was for an easy A, as current world language education policy and implementation rendered them voiceless in the top-down implementation process. This present study provides new insights into the connections between investment and articulation in world language education, and invites stakeholders to reevaluate the predominant emphasis placed on language proficiency in foreign language research and education.
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Despite expressions of concern and initiatives that are intended to raise world language (WL) articulation in the United States (American Councils. 2017), several reports and reviews describe the discontinuation of WL learning after students fulfilled their two-year graduation requirements in high school (Jahner, 2012). This discontinuation is further exacerbated by challenges encountered during the transition from high school to university, including: (1) the ideological separation of foreign language learning from STEM curricula, (2) the perception of foreign language courses as mere general education requirements to be completed expediently, and (3) the frequent lack of availability of online foreign language classes (Diao & Liu, 2021). In addition, WL educators in higher education identified that students who had previous language backgrounds might enroll in an introductory-level class “for an easy A” (Hacking & Rubio, 2016, p. 126). However, according to the Oral Proficiency Levels in the Workplace chart (ACTFL, 2015 b), after two years of high school language study, students are able to “communicate minimally with formulaic and rote utterances, lists, and phrases” at the Novice-low/Novice-mid level. This mismatched expectation between students and WL instructors might discourage high school students from progressing their language learning at college, Chinese in particular. The Modern Language Association report provides additional evidence that “languages such as Arabic, Chinese, Korean, and Russian require extended learning periods for most native speakers of English” (Looney & Lusin, 2018, p. 11). Moreover, Looney and Lusin (2018) provide additional evidence for the declining enrollment of 13.1% in 2013–16 at the college level, while the overall enrollment steadily increased by 295.0% in K-12 schools (ACTFL, 2015 a). Undoubtedly, the disparity in enrollment between high school and college demands more research on committed learners. “Committed learners” refers to students who learned a foreign language in high school and continue learning it at post-secondary institutions (Diao & Liu, 2021) and planned to major or minor in it (Liu, 2016). To address these gaps, this current study aims to understand more about committed learners’ identity and investment in language learning when taking another introductory-level language course at college as these voices are scarcely explored.