A Study of Student Attitudes towards Foreign Languages in Public Secondary Schools of Utah.

An analysis of a student attitude questionnaire administered in the spring of 1970 to students in 39 secondary schools in the state of Utah reflects attitudes which students bring to foreign language classrooms. Results of the survey indicate that students share positive attitudes toward language study both before and after enrollment in a language program. Loss of interest in the subject is noted to be the primary cause of student dropouts. The contents of the paper include: (1) nature of the survey, (2) review of the literature, (3) the student foreign language attitude questionnaire, (4) results of the study, and (5) conclusions and recommendations. Appendixes contain the foreign language attitude questionnaires and other pertinent data. A selected bibliography is included. (RL)