The Effect of Goals and Goal Setting in the Spanish Language Classroom

Knowing how to foster linguistic development is an important aspect of second language acquisition (SLA) research. Research has shown that there are many factors that affect SLA, but one factor that has not been studied extensively is that of goals and goal setting. Therefore, the purpose of this study is: (i) to investigate what types of goals second languages (L2) learners set; and (ii) to determine whether the type of goal that learners set has an effect on their academic achievement. In order to investigate this relationship, this study focuses primarily on Achievement Goal Theory and implements key components from Goal-Setting Theory. 58 students in an intermediate-level Spanish course participated in this study. Students were given a survey to determine their personal goal orientation. Based on these results, students were given a list of possible goals that matched their goal orientation and were asked to choose one. After each chapter quiz, students were given feedback on their goal. Finally, students’ final grades were compared to their goals. This study found that students come to their L2 course with different personal goals ranging from performance to mastery goals. Results indicate that students who set goals had statistically significantly higher course grades compared to those who did not set goals, (p = 0.013). Therefore, results infer that goal setting plays an important role in L2 acquisition and can aid in the academic achievement of L2 learners.