Exploring the Connection between Teacher Leadership Style, Student Choice and Motivation, and Their Relationship with Second Language Learning
Ed.D. dissertation completed in 2011 for Olivet Nazarene University.
Abstract
This mixed-method exploratory research study sought to investigate the relationship between teacher leadership practices used in the foreign language classroom, the interpersonal connection established between the teacher and their students, and their impact on student motivation. Choice of writing assignment topics also was explored to determine if student choice played a role in student learning and retention of the second language, and if choice of assignment topic affected student motivation. Emotional intelligence, brain-based research and language learning theory are addressed, and all of these dynamic variables were examined from a Soft Systems perspective in order to identify and analyze second language learning from a different point of view that incorporates many interrelated variables.