'French is the language of love and stuff': student perceptions of issues related to motivation in learning a foreign language

This digest found in

Gender
Thinking skills
Modern Foreign Languages

Are there differences in motivation between pupils of different abilities?

Pupils were well aware of their relative position in the academic 'pecking order'. This was perceived by successful pupils as being related to the amount of effort they were prepared to expend on their studies. Successful pupils claimed to enjoy learning foreign languages for their own sake and saw themselves as receiving a much higher level of parental support than low ability pupils. Low ability pupils were already in danger of falling into the trap of 'learned helplessness': "When the words are quite easy - I can do it, but if they're really hard, like - a whole sentence - I have to have help from the teacher". (Year 9, low ability pupil)

Pupils at all levels made little use of metacognitive strategies. There was little evidence of self-evaluation by any of the pupils and when there was, it tended to be teacher directed: "Our teacher gives us targets at the end of a unit - if we've done the target, [we] can tick it off which also makes you feel good". (Year 9, average ability girl)

Lower ability pupils tended to exhibit apathy towards any suggestion of independent learning: "She tells us what to do and that's it really". (Year 9, low ability girl)

Your path: Home > Welcome to The Research Informed Practice Site (TRIPS) > Themes > Gender > French is the language of love and stuff:student perceptions of issues related to motivation in lTueFeb100944292004 > Are there differences in motivation between pupils of different abilities?
Research Home Themes \| Find digests \| About the digests resources glossary researchers contact TRIPS Introduction How motivated are British pupils to learning a foreign language? Are there differences in motivation between pupils of different abilities? Do boys and girls differ in their motivation to learn a foreign language? Are pupils more motivated to learn some languages than others? Are there differences in motivation between pupils of different ages? How could teachers improve pupils' motivation? How was the study designed? What are the implications of the study for schools and teachers of modern languages? Where can I find out more? Definitions of technical terms used in the study Send us your feedback Collated digests To view/remove/add notes and save your collated digests click here Get Word Reader 'French is the language of love and stuff': student perceptions of issues related to motivation in learning a foreign language This digest found in Gender Thinking skills Modern Foreign Languages Send to a friend Word doc 60KB Printer friendly Collate for later Are there differences in motivation between pupils of different abilities? Pupils were well aware of their relative position in the academic 'pecking order'. This was perceived by successful pupils as being related to the amount of effort they were prepared to expend on their studies. Successful pupils claimed to enjoy learning foreign languages for their own sake and saw themselves as receiving a much higher level of parental support than low ability pupils. Low ability pupils were already in danger of falling into the trap of 'learned helplessness': "When the words are quite easy - I can do it, but if they're really hard, like - a whole sentence - I have to have help from the teacher". (Year 9, low ability pupil) Pupils at all levels made little use of metacognitive strategies. There was little evidence of self-evaluation by any of the pupils and when there was, it tended to be teacher directed: "Our teacher gives us targets at the end of a unit - if we've done the target, [we] can tick it off which also makes you feel good". (Year 9, average ability girl) Lower ability pupils tended to exhibit apathy towards any suggestion of independent learning: "She tells us what to do and that's it really". (Year 9, low ability girl)