Principal Investigators:
Judith Carlstrand, Lecturer, Department of World Languages and Cultures, School of Liberal Arts.
Melissa Groenewold, Lecturer, Department of World Languages and Cultures, School of Liberal Arts.
Project Title:
Improving Language Instruction and Learning in First-Year Spanish
Funding Level:
$27,882
Abstract:
Nationwide declines in world language enrollment, coupled with persistently high DFW (D/F/Withdrawal) rates in introductory language courses, demand new approaches to gateway language instruction. Within SPAN S131 and SPAN S132 at Indiana University Indianapolis, these concerns became increasingly visible through uneven student outcomes, inconsistent instructional experiences across sections and modalities, and recurring evidence of student disengagement and withdrawal risk.
Our Curriculum Enhancement Grant (CEG) project addressed these concerns through a comprehensive redesign of the first-year Spanish program grounded in ACTFL Core Practices, communicative language teaching, High-Leverage Teaching Practices, transparent instructional design, and student-success-centered pedagogy.
As co-researchers and instructors within the first-year Spanish program, we recognized that student success in first-year language learning is deeply connected to the coherence of the entire learning experience: curriculum design, communicative pedagogy, transparency, classroom climate, metacognitive support, and instructor consistency.
The project centered on a Three-Pillar Intervention Model:
- Success → Curriculum Alignment + Backward Design
- Engagement → Communicative, Culture-Centered Pedagogy
- Retention → Student Support Structures + Instructor Consistency
To evaluate the intervention, we conducted:
- a longitudinal qualitative analysis of student course evaluations across Fall 2022–Fall 2025,
- a Spring 2026 Quarter 1 instructor implementation survey,
- Quarterly Check-In analyses,
- DFW trend analyses,
- and Spring 2026 AVANT STAMP 4S proficiency testing.
The findings demonstrated substantial improvement in instructional consistency, communicative engagement, student confidence, classroom climate, and measurable proficiency development. DFW rates declined significantly following implementation, while both students and instructors independently identified communicative interaction, reflective learning structures, and supportive classroom climate as major contributors to student persistence and success.
The strongest remaining challenge involved the homework ecosystem (Connect/Carreras/workload alignment), suggesting that the intervention successfully addressed many foundational instructional and engagement-related DFW risk factors while revealing the next phase of structural refinement.
The project demonstrates that reducing DFW rates requires more than isolated curriculum revision. Students are most likely to persist and succeed when courses become coherent, communicative, transparent, culturally meaningful, and intentionally designed around participation, growth, and learner support.