Enrolment and Retention of Students in German Language Classes: Influencing School Based Factors in Meru and Tharaka-Nithi Counties, Kenya
German is a language spoken by more than 100 million people as a mother tongue in Europe. It is one of the foreign languages taught and examined in secondary schools in Kenya. German as an optional subject is characterized by low number of students at form four level. The purpose of this study was to investigate school based factors that influence enrolment and retention of students in German language classes in Meru and Tharaka-Nithi Counties in Kenya. The study adapted the descriptive survey research design. Both purposive and random sampling techniques were used to select the respondents. Questionnaires and interview schedule were used. Data was analyzed using frequencies and percentages. The study found out that students’ career orientation, teachers’ teaching methods, teachers’ handling of students’ learning difficulties, students’ performance in German in form one and two, learning resources and prospects of German language influence enrolment and retention of students in German language classes. The findings of this study will provide knowledge in regard to enrolment and retention of students in German language classes and provide a foundation for future studies. Key w ords : Enrolment, Retention, School based, factors.
Positive Attitudes and Realistic Beliefs: Links to Proficiency
Middle-school-aged students in 12 classes of a 9-week Foreign Language Exploratory (FLEX) program participated in a study attempting to maintain and/or to improve students' attitudes toward French and Spanish speakers, replicating an earlier study (Mantle-Bromley & Miller, 1991) of first-year Spanish students. Students in the treatment group participated in culture-related lessons that used attitude-change theory in their design. Analysis of covariance (ANCOVA) procedures showed that the experimental group's mean score on a modified version of the Attitudes and Motivation Test Battery (AMTB) (Gardner, Smythe, & Clement, 1974) was significantly greater than that of students in the control group (p < .05). In addition, using the Beliefs about Language Learning Inventory (BALLI) (Horwitz, 1988), the study measured, in an exploratory fashion, students' beliefs about the language learning process. Results demonstrated that many young students enter their first language class with misconceptions about language learning that may hinder their progress and persistence in language study.
Students' Misconceptions and Cultural Stereotypes in Foreign Language Classes
The attitudes and beliefs of students in a classroom toward the subject being studied can have significant effects on their willingness and even their ability to learn. The connection between atti tudes/expectations and achievement, long intuitively recognized by teachers, has also been firmly established by research (Bandura, 1989; Stipek, 1984; Dweck & Elliot, 1983). For foreign language teachers, the effects of students' attitudes on their imme