Attendance policies on university language degrees: exploring attitudes, and measuring relationships with performance and progression

ABSTRACT

This paper explores the attitudes of undergraduate language learners and their lecturers towards the introduction of an attendance policy in an Irish Higher Education Institution. It also analyses the relationship between the introduction of this policy and student performance (average grade) and progression (pass rates). The policy was introduced on a pilot basis on thirty core language modules delivered on first or second year undergraduate programmes. They consisted of language modules in German (beginners and intermediate), French (intermediate), Spanish (beginners and intermediate), Chinese (beginners) and Japanese (beginners). The findings suggest predominantly positive attitudes towards the attendance policy among both staff and students. They also indicate a positive impact on performance and progression in some modules, in particular first year beginner languages where attendance has been an issue in the past. The paper considers the implications of these findings both for this field of research and for practitioners particularly in university language learning contexts.

KEYWORDS:

• Attendance policies
• monitored attendance
• second language learning
• higher education
• student performance
• student progression
• academic achievement
• attitudes towards attendance policies

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Notes

1. The institution in which this study was carried out granted it ethical approval and confirmed that the study was GDPR compliant on the basis of the following: The focus group data was gathered as part of a Periodic Programme Review process and the participants completed an Informed Consent Form having been provided with a Plain Language Statement. The data arising from the focus group interviews is stored on Google Drive and anonymised with no possibility of identifying the participants. The list of the focus group participants is contained in a separate document which is also stored on Google Drive. The data relating to performance and progression of students was gathered as part of normal university business and is completely anonymized with no possibility that any individual student can be identified.

2. All figures relating to failure rates and average score (grade) in the five tables in this paper are expressed in percentages.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Jennifer Bruen

Dr Jennifer Bruen is an Associate Professor in the School of Applied Languages and Intercultural Studies at Dublin City University. She has a primary degree in the field of business and language and higher degrees in the fields of political education, eastern Germany and language teaching and learning. Her research interests are primarily in the field of applied linguistics and include language planning and policy, language teaching and learning, preparation of students for study abroad, the European Language portfolio initiative and German for international business. Jennifer is currently Associate Dean for Teaching and Learning in the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences in DCU and is a member of the Royal Irish Academy Committee for Language, Literature, Culture and Communication.

Niamh Kelly

Niamh Kelly teaches Japanese language and translation at Dublin City University, Ireland. Her research interests include second language teaching and learning and lexical innovation processes, particularly in the area of Japanese secret language, and she has published extensively in these areas. She holds higher degrees in Linguistics. As a member of the European-Japanese Teaching Materials bank, she was also involved in developing authentic teaching materials for Japanese, and has co-authored a number of self-study Japanese language courses.

Maria Loftus

Maria Loftus teaches French language in the School of Applied Language and Translation Studies in DCU. She holds third level qualifications in Cinema Studies and Applied Linguistics. Her research interests pertain to CALL, particularly telecollaboration and student created video content and second language acquisition.