'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 pupils more motivated to learn some languages than others?

The most striking results from the questionnaire were obtained from a comparison between responses of pupils studying French and German.

Pupils studying German exhibited:

a stronger liking and desire for the language;
a more positive attitude towards their teachers;
a stronger sense of parental support;
a more cohesive group feeling;
a higher rating of personal ability and success and perceived themselves as obtaining more positive results from their efforts; and
a greater awareness of why they did well or badly and what they needed to do to improve.

The responses to the questionnaire also highlighted gender differences amongst pupils in their preference for learning a particular foreign language. Girls perceived a higher need to learn French than German and boys rated studying German more highly than French. The boys' very low ratings for use of metacognitive strategies and self-motivation for learning French were particularly noteworthy.

During the interviews, pupils explained the boys' preference for German in terms of French being a more feminine language and German more masculine, for example: "French is the language of love and stuff". German is "the war, Hitler and all that". (Year 9 boy)

For other differences between boys' and girls' motivation towards learning foreign languages click here.

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 pupils more motivated to learn some languages than others?
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 pupils more motivated to learn some languages than others? The most striking results from the questionnaire were obtained from a comparison between responses of pupils studying French and German. Pupils studying German exhibited: a stronger liking and desire for the language; a more positive attitude towards their teachers; a stronger sense of parental support; a more cohesive group feeling; a higher rating of personal ability and success and perceived themselves as obtaining more positive results from their efforts; and a greater awareness of why they did well or badly and what they needed to do to improve. The responses to the questionnaire also highlighted gender differences amongst pupils in their preference for learning a particular foreign language. Girls perceived a higher need to learn French than German and boys rated studying German more highly than French. The boys' very low ratings for use of metacognitive strategies and self-motivation for learning French were particularly noteworthy. During the interviews, pupils explained the boys' preference for German in terms of French being a more feminine language and German more masculine, for example: "French is the language of love and stuff". German is "the war, Hitler and all that". (Year 9 boy) For other differences between boys' and girls' motivation towards learning foreign languages click here.