Las percepciones hacia los deberes de español como lengua moderna : Investigando lo que opinan los estudiantes y los profesores sobre las tareas de español en la educación secundaria

Sammanfattning: The main purpose of the present study is to investigate how students and teachers of Spanish as a modern language perceive homework. Although appearing to be a frequently used tool in the Swedish school (Skolverket, 2014), not a lot of thorough investigations have been conducted regarding Spanish homework in upper secondary schools in Sweden. Given that the current Swedish course plan proposes that the students are more involved in their own learning (Skolverket 2011), getting to know their opinion on the subject could be useful for teachers making decisions regarding homework. Therefore, the objectives of this research are a) investigate possible dependencies between students’ attitudes towards homework and variables such as gender, grade and level, and b) determine if there are any differences of opinion regarding frequency and type of homework preferred amongst teachers and pupils.  With the aim of finding out the opinions and preferences from both groups, an inquiry was given to teachers and pupils of modern language Spanish classes in upper secondary schools in the south of Sweden. These inquiries constitute of closed questions, on the basis of the quantitative method. In order to find possible associations between a positive attitude towards homework and other variables, the statistical analysis Fisher’s exact test was used.  The results obtained from the questionnaires indicate that certain variables can influence students’ view and opinion on Spanish homework. Firstly, it is shown that the girls who participated in the study tend to view Spanish homework in a more optimistic way. The same results were found when observing the students from higher levels or with the grade B or higher. Secondly, regarding the preferences of homework, both teachers and students who participated in the study agreed that glossary words are their preferred type of homework. However, the results also indicated a difference of opinion in respect of frequency, as the students preferred twice a month, and the teachers once a week.  Due to the scarcity of studies concerning preferences and attitudes towards homework, as well as the importance of understanding the students’ opinions (Skolverket, 2011), it is suggested that the topic is studied on a more thorough level, while also investigating other possible factors and dependencies.