Sarah Seewald

Rosetta Stone and Its Effects on Student Motivation to Learn Spanish

• Today’s global economy requires language

• Minimal research on Rosetta Stone available

• More research needed at K-12 level

Rationale

• How does daily instructional use of Rosetta Stone technology affect student motivation to learn Spanish?• Do students use Spanish more outside of the classroom after using

Rosetta Stone?

• Do students prefer to continue learning through Rosetta Stone or through teacher instruction?

• Does the student think his time is used wisely by Rosetta Stone or teacher instruction?

• Does the student feel bored more when learning from a teacher or from Rosetta Stone?

• Does the student have higher self-perceptions of her ability to learn Spanish through Rosetta Stone or teacher instruction?

Research Questions

• Critical Components of Learning a Language• Grammar

• Reading

• Technology

• Interaction with Someone More Advanced

• Prior Knowledge

• Amount of L1 Used

Literature Review

• Rosetta Stone Philosophy• No translation

• No grammar instruction

• Deductive reasoning

• Rosetta Stone’s Design Components• Dynamic Immersion

• Writing

• Speech Recognition

• Feedback

• Individualized

• Online Interaction

• Not for Advanced Level

Literature Review

• Research Design• qualitative, non-experimental• Interview

• Population and Sampling • 7 students at a small, private high school• 1 is a 9th grader, 3 are 10th graders, 1 is an 11th grader, and 2 are

12th graders• gender split is 57% male and 43% female

• convenience sample• Instrumentation - structured interview

Methodology

• Do students use Spanish more outside of the classroom after using Rosetta Stone? H0: Students use Spanish more

outside of the classroom after using Rosetta Stone. OR H1:

Students use Spanish less (or the same amount) outside of the classroom after using Rosetta Stone.• Interview question 4:• 5/7 students did not see a change (71%)• 29% noticed an increase

• The data seems to say that students use Spanish less – or the same amount

• Also interesting: 4 students cited previous instructional experience with Spanish as their reason for choosing Spanish

Results Q1

• Do students prefer to continue learning through Rosetta

Stone or through teacher instruction? H0: Students prefer to

continue learning through Rosetta Stone. OR H1: Students

prefer to continue learning through teacher instruction.• Interview question 5: • 3 students who would choose teacher • 4 students who would choose Rosetta Stone

• Sample too small for conclusion.

Results Q2

• Does the student think his time is used wisely by Rosetta Stone

or teacher instruction? H0: The student thinks his time is used

wisely by Rosetta Stone. OR H1: The student thinks his time is

used wisely by teacher instruction.• Interview question 6:• 3 thought their teacher used time wisely• 2 thought their teacher sometimes used class time wisely• 2 thought their teacher did not use class time wisely

• Interview question 7:• 3 thought Rosetta Stone used their time wisely• 1 thought Rosetta Stone sometimes used time wisely and sometimes

didn’t• 3 thought Rosetta Stone wasted their time

• Students were evenly divided over their teacher’s wise use of class time• Students were divided on the extremes when asked about Rosetta Stone. • Again, the sample was too small to draw a conclusion.

Results Q3

• Interview question 9:• 5 bored by Rosetta Stone• 1 sometimes bored (by two

specific activities)• 1 said not bored

• The student feels bored more when learning from Rosetta Stone).

• Does the student feel bored more when learning from a teacher or from Rosetta Stone?

H0: The student feels bored

more when learning from a

teacher. OR H1: The student

feels bored more when learning from Rosetta Stone.• Interview question 8:• 1 bored by teacher

instruction• 3 students said sometimes• 3 said they weren’t bored by

teacher

Results Q4

yes sometimes no0

0.51

1.52

2.53

3.5

Chart 7: Bored by Teacher Instruction?

yes sometimes no0123456

Chart 8: Bored by Rosetta Stone?

• Does the student have higher self-perceptions of her ability to learn Spanish through Rosetta Stone or teacher

instruction? H0: The student has higher self-perceptions of

her ability to learn Spanish through Rosetta Stone. OR H1:

The student has higher self-perceptions of her ability to learn Spanish through teacher instruction.• Interview question 10:• 4 students said they were better with teacher instruction• 3 students said Rosetta Stone• One of these based her answer on the fact that she is now taking

Spanish daily.• This data seems to say the student has higher self-perceptions of her

ability to learn Spanish through teacher instruction.

Results Q5

• Larger sample

• Same Spanish teacher

• Likert scale

Further Study

• Dr. Ingles

• Professor Hayward

• Shelly Snow

• Linda Sherrill

Acknowledgements