How did you decide to study Russian?

H: do you recall what your initial interest was in Russian back in 1995 S: yeah um essentially the military chose my language for me you take an aptitude test for language and I scored high enough to study an Eastern European language but not high enough to study oriental languages or Arabic well I don’t know if I could have learned Arabic but um I was more suited apparently for uh Eastern European languages

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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?

Will 3