Games and other classroom activities which motivate the foreign language student

Includes bibliographical references (pages 87-91)Declining enrollments and interest in foreign languages have become a major problem in the foreign language profession. Diversified activities in the classroom have been found to have motivational qualities and have been successfully applied by classroom teachers.\ud Literature on the varied instructional strategies in foreign language education in the United States indicate that classes which use varied activities show more interest and motivation than those classes which do not. A student interest questionnaire was devised in order to facilitate a choice of activities appropriate to a particular class or group. Forty-two different foreign language classes were observed. Of these, eight were in the Federal Republic of Germany, and the remaining thirty-four in the West San Fernando Valley. The games and activities which were selected to be represented in this particular study were chosen because they were used by several teachers and appeared to be an effective motivational tool. The contributions which these games and activities make to the foreign language program were discussed. If varied activities which have been selected and frequently prepared by the students themselves are used, some students who previously may not have been interested in participation, may be motivated to not just "pass the course," but may actually develop an interest in the subject. Interesting new materials may motivate additional students to get involved and thus continue with the study of foreign language