Rebecca 2

When did you start studying Russian?

I: and when did you start studying Russian

S: uh actually just the past summer I took the intensive Russian course at Penn State so Russian one two and three in eight weeks so

I: and what made you to decide to do that

S: um I’m very close to a lot of Russian families and kind of a lot of my friends and things were (.) they all spoke Russian so I kind of ( ) picked it up around them just started learning different things and then I ended up I actually took lessons private Russian lessons with uh an immigrant from Russia who is in her seventies now and she lived through Stalin and post Stalin era and uh I’ve been taking um lessons from her in tutoring this semester uh and that’s pretty much my Russian experience that I have had I also hope to go to Russian one day so that’s why I also decided to study it

I: when you say tutoring are you tutoring somebody in Russian or ( )

S: no if I have problems learning (.) or I need help outside the classroom and you know there’s no office hours or something like that I get help from (.) this lady as well

I: mmhm

S: like if I really need some extra help usually over break or something whenever everybody else is outside of town we’ll read together watch Russian movies and she will help me understand

I: mmhm

S: just small things

Reflections – Compare the experiences of both Will and Rebecca in an intensive language program. How do their attitudes and motivational factors differ? Would you anticipate a difference in their language proficiency as a result? Why or why not? What signals some similarities, if any, between the two?

Have you noticed a difference in students’ motivation based on whether or not the course is required or elected? If so, what challenges does this raise for your instructional practices? How have you typically addressed these challenges?

Rebecca 3

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