Workshop Demotivation While Learning a Foreign Language: A Skeleton in the Closet with Prof. María del Carmen Méndez Santos

Workshop Demotivation While Learning a Foreign Language: A Skeleton in the Closet with Prof. María del Carmen Méndez Santos

The Washington University Foreign Language Learning Colloquium Speaker Series presents: Dr. María del Carmen Méndez Santos, Professor at the Section of General Linguistics, Department of Language, Literature, Theory of Literature, and Linguistics at the University of Alicante (Spain)

Demotivation While Learning a Foreign Language: A Skeleton in the Closet

It is widely agreed that linguistic aptitude and motivation are key factors in the language learning process. However, there is a tendency to neglect a “dark” side of one of them: demotivation. It is important, for example, to reflect on the cause of high dropout rates worldwide, not only at a organizative level but also in the classroom. This workshop will familiarize participants with theory and practice related to demotivation and provide concrete recommendations on how to avoid demotivation in language instruction.

The Washington University Foreign Language Learning Colloquium Speaker Series is sponsored by the Department of Germanic Languages and Literatures; the Department of East Asian Languages and Cultures; the Department of Jewish, Islamic and Near Eastern Languages and Cultures; Applied Linguistics; the Department of Romance Languages and Literatures, and the Dean of the Faculty of Arts and Sciences.