The Idea of an Essay, Volume 4

108 The Idea of an Essay: Volume 4 languages. Many of the authors state that they took some Spanish in high school, and all report some knowledge of another language. This being the case, most of the second languages known to the authors are based off the Latin alphabet. Another common thread is the mood of the authors. The authors report that they held a high level of enthusiasm at the outset of the project and were pleased with their attempts to pick up the second language at the end. However, the authors frequently write of the many struggles they encounter in their attempts. These struggles can be grouped into three categories: motivation, time, and learning environment. Each essay discusses the deficiencies within these categories that plagued the writers. Several of them state that, should these deficiencies be rectified, there would be substantial improvement in the acquisition of the second language. Therefore, a critical analysis of these essays shows that proper motivation, adequate time, and a structured learning environment are necessary and effective tools for second-language acquisition. Of Motivation A lack of proper motivation, as the authors uniformly admit, is an obvious and prevalent issue. Two types of motivation are regularly mentioned in the essays—integrative and instrumental. Integrative motivation stems from the desire to gain knowledge and become involved with a culture (Essay 13). Conversely, instrumental motivation results from the projected benefits of an action (Essay 13). Both types of motivation are present in the essays. Despite the typically strong zeal among the writers at the outset of the course, various complications arose throughout the process of learning that negatively affected the authors’ motivation. One basic complication was a lack of effort on the part of the authors. The writer of essay 10 admits that a pure lack of effort caused failure on his or her part, and the author of essay 13 reports a failure to be “proactive (Essay 13, pg. 5).” Several of the authors report that, after the first month or two, their original motivation was either dead or fading fast. Understandably, the author of essay 14 discloses that additional school and work loads began to abate the desire to study the second language. The use of accountability partners yielded mixed results. The author of essay 15 reports that, occasionally, neither partner was