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

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Gender
Thinking skills
Modern Foreign Languages

Do boys and girls differ in their motivation to learn a foreign language?

The results of the questionnaire revealed several gender differences:

girls demonstrated a higher degree of motivation to learn foreign languages than boys;
girls expressed a significantly higher degree of liking and desire, and a greater desire to identify with speakers of a foreign language (an integrative orientation);
girls reported a higher level of effort and belief in the result of making an effort; and
the use of metacognitive strategies was strikingly low for both boys and girls, but girls reported a higher level of use of metacognitive strategies.

The interviews provided some reasons for the above findings. Both boys and girls explained that girls were more inclined to put effort into work that appeared tedious. Boys needed to find schoolwork enjoyable: "Girls just do the boring bits which boys just can’t be bothered with". (Year 9 boy)

Several of the participants explained that it was not "cool" for boys to like languages and if they did, it was not appropriate to show it: "The [boys] can do it if they put half a mind to it, but it's just they don't want teasing from the other boys". (Year 9 girl)

The authors suggest that the girls' higher degree of motivation to learn foreign languages, a finding consistent with other cited research, may be part of a more general orientation towards schoolwork.

For gender differences in preference for learning French or German, click here.

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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 Do boys and girls differ in their motivation to learn a foreign language? The results of the questionnaire revealed several gender differences: girls demonstrated a higher degree of motivation to learn foreign languages than boys; girls expressed a significantly higher degree of liking and desire, and a greater desire to identify with speakers of a foreign language (an integrative orientation); girls reported a higher level of effort and belief in the result of making an effort; and the use of metacognitive strategies was strikingly low for both boys and girls, but girls reported a higher level of use of metacognitive strategies. The interviews provided some reasons for the above findings. Both boys and girls explained that girls were more inclined to put effort into work that appeared tedious. Boys needed to find schoolwork enjoyable: "Girls just do the boring bits which boys just can’t be bothered with". (Year 9 boy) Several of the participants explained that it was not "cool" for boys to like languages and if they did, it was not appropriate to show it: "The [boys] can do it if they put half a mind to it, but it's just they don't want teasing from the other boys". (Year 9 girl) The authors suggest that the girls' higher degree of motivation to learn foreign languages, a finding consistent with other cited research, may be part of a more general orientation towards schoolwork. For gender differences in preference for learning French or German, click here.