Case Study: Exploring the Impact of 22 Speaking Assignments
Austin Meusch
September 25, 2023
The dataset delves into the speaking assignment results of a Spanish 1 class for middle school students in the United States. Over the span of 22 assignments, two pivotal metrics have been emphasized – '% Success', signifying the average pronunciation success for the class on an assignment, and 'Avg. Length', which portrays the average number of words in repeat cards across each assignment.
Objective:
To observe the progression of middle school students in their ability to pronounce Spanish words correctly and to understand how their comfort level with longer phrases develops over the assignments.
Data Overview:
Findings:
Initial Challenges (Assignments 1-5):
In the earlier stages, students faced a rocky start. With a peak success rate of 57% in the first assignment, there was a noticeable dip in success by the 5th assignment (15%).
Simultaneously, the phrase length students were tackling hovered in the lower range, with an average of about 2.6 words. It indicates the students' struggles not just with pronunciation but with longer phrase lengths early on.
Diverse Success Rates Amidst Longer Phrases (Assignments 6-14):
In this period, despite the fluctuation in success percentages, students seemed more confident in dealing with longer phrases. This is evident from the continuous increase in the average length, peaking at 10 words in the 14th assignment.
However, this period also had the lowest success rate of 12% during the 14th assignment. A plausible explanation might be the students grappling with the challenges of longer phrases, which temporarily affected their pronunciation success.
Revival & Progress (Assignments 15-22):
Post the 14th assignment, there’s a noticeable revival. Success percentages see a dramatic boost, reaching as high as 84% in the 19th assignment.
While the average phrase length dropped initially (around assignments 15-18), it then started to increase again, suggesting that students were now more comfortable with longer phrases and could pronounce them with higher accuracy.
Conclusion:
The journey of the Spanish 1 class students through their 22 assignments is a testament to the learning curve inherent in acquiring a new language. Initially, students found it challenging to cope with the pronunciation of even shorter phrases, reflecting in their low success percentages. However, as they ventured into longer phrases, while there were pronounced fluctuations, it was evident that their exposure and repeated practice made them more adept. Towards the end, not only did they manage higher success rates, but they also did so while handling longer phrases, showcasing their commendable growth and resilience in the learning process.
