Attitudes and motivation towards learning French in primary school
The role of developmental changes between the ages of 5 and 7
Young children have often been shown to be highly motivated towards learning foreign languages in primary school, but for their enthusiasm to decrease during secondary schooling. Many reasons have been put forward, such as novelty wearing off, teaching styles, or societal and peer pressure. Little is known about changes in attitudes and motivation in primary school aged children when these factors are kept constant, the only variable being the age of the children. The present study investigated differences in attitudes and motivation at two different ages (5 and 7) in such a setting. Two intact classes in the same school (53 children with no prior knowledge of French), taught the same material by the same teacher, took part in focus groups and one-to-one interviews during the course of a larger longitudinal project investigating the role of age in early classroom learning. Results show that changes in motivation might occur earlier than previously thought, and be shaped by developmental changes in children’s cognitive, social and emotional growth. Children as young as 5 and 7 were shown to exhibit differences in levels of self-regulation, self-efficacy, and thought and beliefs frames which had a direct impact on their attitudinal and motivational profiles.
Article outline
- 1.Introduction
- 2.Background
- 2.1Attitudes and motivation – conceptual issues
- 2.2Attitudes and motivation in young FL learners
- 3.The study
- 3.1Participants
- 3.2Study design
- 3.3Data analysis
- 4.Results
- 4.1Attitudes
- 4.1.1Attitudes towards learning French
- 4.1.2Attitudes towards French children
- 4.2Motivation
- 4.2.1Is it useful to learn French?
- 4.2.2Continuing with learning French
- 5.Discussion
- 6.Conclusion
- Acknowledgements
-
References
References (56)
Araújo, L., & da Costa, P. D.
(
2013)
The European survey on language competences: school-internal and external factors in language learning. EUR-OP.
![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
Baker, C.
(
1992)
Attitudes and language. Multilingual Matters.
![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
Bandura, A.
(
1997)
Self-efficacy: The exercise of control. New York Freeman.
![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
Bartram, B.
(
2010)
Attitudes to Modern Foreign Language Learning: Insights from comparative education. Continuum.
![DOI logo](https://benjamins.com/logos/doi-logo.svg)
![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
Bolster, A.
(
2009)
Continuity or a fresh start? A case study of motivation in MFL at transition, KS2–3.
Language Learning Journal,
37
1, 233–254.
![DOI logo](https://benjamins.com/logos/doi-logo.svg)
![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
Braun, V., & Clarke, V.
(
2006)
Using thematic analysis in psychology.
Qualitative Research in Psychology,
3
1, 77–101.
![DOI logo](https://benjamins.com/logos/doi-logo.svg)
![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
British Council
(
2017)
Languages for the future: the foreign languages the United Kingdom needs to become a truly global nation. Retrieved from
[URL]
Bronson, M.
(
2000)
Self-regulation in early childhood: Nature and nurture. The Guilford Press.
![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
Cable, C., Driscoll, P., Mitchell, R., Sing, S., Cremin, T., Earl, J., … Martin, C.
(
2010)
Languages learning at key stage 2: a longitudinal study. Department for Children Schools and Families.
![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
Cenoz, J.
(
2003)
The influence of age on the acquisition of English: General proficiency, attitudes and code mixing. In
M. García Mayo &
M. García Lecumberri (Eds.),
Age and the acquisition of English as a FL (pp. 77–93). Multilingual Matters.
![DOI logo](https://benjamins.com/logos/doi-logo.svg)
![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
Chambers, G.
(
1999)
Motivating language learners. Multilingual Matters.
![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
Chambers, G.
(
2016)
Pupils’ perceptions of Key Stage 2 to Key Stage 3 transition in modern foreign languages.
The Language Learning Journal,
7
1, 19–33.
![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
Chambers, G.
(
2019)
Pupils’ reflections on the primary to secondary school transition with reference to modern language learning: a motivational self-system perspective.
Innovation in Language Learning and Teaching,
13
1, 221–236.
![DOI logo](https://benjamins.com/logos/doi-logo.svg)
![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
Courtney, L.
(
2014)
Moving from primary to secondary education: an investigation into the effect of primary to secondary transition on motivation for language learning and foreign language proficiency. (Unpublished doctoral dissertation). University of Southampton, Southampton, UK.
Courtney, L., Graham, S., Tonkyn, A., & Marinis, T.
(
2017)
Individual differences in early language learning: A study of English learners of French.
Applied linguistics,
38
1, 824–847.
![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
Deci, E. L., & Ryan, R. M.
(
1985)
Intrinsic motivation and self-determination in human behavior. Plenum Press.
![DOI logo](https://benjamins.com/logos/doi-logo.svg)
![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
Del Giudice, M.
(
2018)
Middle childhood: An evolutionary-developmental synthesis. In
N. Halfon,
C. Forrest,
R. Lerner, &
E. Faustman (Eds.),
Handbook of life course health development (pp. 95–107). Springer.
![DOI logo](https://benjamins.com/logos/doi-logo.svg)
![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
Diamond, A.
(
2002)
Normal development of prefrontal cortex from birth to young adulthood: Cognitive functions, anatomy, and biochemistry. In
D. Stuss &
R. Knight (Eds.),
Principles of frontal lobe function (pp. 466–503). Oxford University Press.
![DOI logo](https://benjamins.com/logos/doi-logo.svg)
![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
Donato, R., Tucker, G. R., Wudthayagorn, J., & Igarashi, K.
(
2000)
Converging evidence: Attitudes, achievements and instruction in the later years of FLES.
Foreign Language Annals,
33
1, 377–393.
![DOI logo](https://benjamins.com/logos/doi-logo.svg)
![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
Dörnyei, Z., & Ushioda, E.
(Eds.) (
2009)
Motivation, language identity and the L2 self. Multilingual Matters.
![DOI logo](https://benjamins.com/logos/doi-logo.svg)
![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
Enever, J.
(Ed.) (
2011)
ELLiE. Early language learning in Europe. British Council.
![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
Erler, L., & Macaro, E.
(
2011)
Decoding ability in French as a foreign language and language learning motivation.
The Modern Language Journal,
95
1, 496–518.
![DOI logo](https://benjamins.com/logos/doi-logo.svg)
![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
European Commission
(
2012)
SurveyLang: The European survey on language competencies. European Commission.
![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
Fenyvesi, K.
(
2018)
English learning motivation of young learners in Danish primary schools.
Language Teaching Research, 1–24.
![DOI logo](https://benjamins.com/logos/doi-logo.svg)
![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
Graham, S.
(
2021)
Aptitude or motivation: which is the better predictor of successful language learning? In
E. Macaro &
R. Woore (Eds.),
Debates in second language education (pp. 106–121). Routledge.
![DOI logo](https://benjamins.com/logos/doi-logo.svg)
![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
Graham, S.
(
2022)
Self-efficacy and language learning – what it is and what it isn’t.
Language Learning Journal, 50(2), 186–207.
![DOI logo](https://benjamins.com/logos/doi-logo.svg)
![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
Graham, S., Courtney, L., Tonkyn, A., & Marinis, T.
(
2016)
Motivational trajectories for early language learning across the primary–secondary school transition.
British Educational Research Journal,
42
1, 682–702.
![DOI logo](https://benjamins.com/logos/doi-logo.svg)
![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
Gregersen, T., MacIntyre, P., & Ross, J.
(
2020)
Extending Gardner’s socioeducational model to learner well-being: Research propositions linking integrative motivation and the PERMA framework. In
A. H. Al-Hoorie &
P. D. MacIntyre (Eds.),
Contemporary language motivation theory (pp. 17–39). Multilingual Matters.
![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
Guz, E., & Tetiurka, M.
(
2013)
The role of a teacher imagination in conceptualising the child as a second language learner.
Studies in Second Language Learning and Teaching,
3
1, 419–439.
![DOI logo](https://benjamins.com/logos/doi-logo.svg)
![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
Guz, E., & Tetiurka, M.
(
2016)
Positive Emotions and Learner Engagement: Insights from an Early FL Classroom. In
D. Gabryś-Barker &
D. Gałajda (Eds.),
Positive psychology perspectives on foreign language learning and teaching (pp. 133–153). Cham, Switzerland: Springer International Publishing AG.
![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
Heinzmann, S.
(
2013)
Young language learners’ motivation and attitudes. Bloomsbury Academic.
![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
Kissau, S.
(
2006)
Gender differences in motivation to learn French.
Canadian Modern Language Review,
62
1, 401–422.
![DOI logo](https://benjamins.com/logos/doi-logo.svg)
![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
Kopp, C. B.
(
1982)
Antecedents of self-regulation: a developmental perspective.
Developmental psychology, 181, 199.
![DOI logo](https://benjamins.com/logos/doi-logo.svg)
![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
Lantolf, J. P., & Swain, M.
(
2020)
Perezhivanie: The Cognitive–Emotional Dialectic within the Social Situation of Development. In
A. H. Al-Hoorie &
P. D. MacIntyre (Eds.),
Contemporary language motivation theory: 60 years since Gardner and Lambert (1959) (pp. 80–105). Multilingual Matters.
![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
Lanvers, U.
(
2017)
Contradictory others and the habitus of languages: Surveying the L2 motivation landscape in the United Kingdom.
The Modern Language Journal,
101
1, 517–532.
![DOI logo](https://benjamins.com/logos/doi-logo.svg)
![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
MacIntyre, P. D., Dörnyei, Z., Clément, R., & Noels, K. A.
(
1998)
Conceptualizing willingness to communicate in a L2: A situational model of L2 confidence and affiliation.
The Modern Language Journal,
82
1, 545–562.
![DOI logo](https://benjamins.com/logos/doi-logo.svg)
![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
Mackey, A., & Gass, S.
(
2015)
Second language research: Methodology and design (2nd ed.). Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.
![DOI logo](https://benjamins.com/logos/doi-logo.svg)
![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
Martin, C.
(
2012)
Pupils’ perceptions of foreign language learning in the primary school – findings from the Key Stage 2 Language Learning Pathfinder evaluation.
Education 3–13,
40
1, 343–362.
![DOI logo](https://benjamins.com/logos/doi-logo.svg)
![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
McCall, I.
(
2011)
Score in French: motivating boys with football in Key Stage 3.
Language Learning Journal,
39
1, 5–18.
![DOI logo](https://benjamins.com/logos/doi-logo.svg)
![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
Mihaljević Djigunović, J.
(
1995)
Attitudes of young foreign language learners: A follow-up study. In
M. Vilke &
Y. Vrhovac (Eds.),
Children and foreign languages II (pp. 16–33). Faculty of Philosophy.
![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
Mihaljević Djigunović, J.
(
2012)
Early EFL in context – Evidence from a country case study British Council ELT Research papers 12–05, 1–18.
![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
Mihaljević Djigunović, J.
(
2017)
Developmental aspects of early EFL learning. In
J. Enever &
E. Lindgren (Eds.),
Early language learning: Complexity and mixed methods (pp. 222–246). Multilingual Matters.
![DOI logo](https://benjamins.com/logos/doi-logo.svg)
![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
Mihaljević Djigunović, J., & Lopriore, L.
(
2011)
The learner: Do individual differences matter. In
J. Enever (Ed.),
ELLiE: Early language learning in Europe, 29–45.
![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
Mitchell, R., & Myles, F.
(
2019)
Learning French in the UK setting: Policy, classroom engagement and attainable learning outcomes.
Apples Journal of Applied Language Studies,
13
(1), 69–93.
![DOI logo](https://benjamins.com/logos/doi-logo.svg)
![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
Montroy, J. J., Bowles, R. P., Skibbe, L. E., McClelland, M. M., & Morrison, F. J.
(
2016)
The development of self-regulation across early childhood.
Developmental psychology,
52
1, 1744–1762.
![DOI logo](https://benjamins.com/logos/doi-logo.svg)
![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
Muñoz, C.
(
2008)
Age-related differences in foreign language learning. Revisiting the empirical evidence.
IRAL,
46
1, 197–220.
![DOI logo](https://benjamins.com/logos/doi-logo.svg)
![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
Muñoz, C.
(
2017)
Tracing trajectories of young learners: Ten years of school English learning.
Annual Review of Applied Linguistics,
37
1, 168–184.
![DOI logo](https://benjamins.com/logos/doi-logo.svg)
![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
Nikolov, M.
(
1999)
‘Why do you learn English?’‘Because the teacher is short.’ A study of Hungarian children’s foreign language learning motivation.
Language Teaching Research,
3
1, 33–56.
![DOI logo](https://benjamins.com/logos/doi-logo.svg)
![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
Pfenninger, S., & Singleton, D.
(
2017)
Beyond age effects in instructional L2 learning. Multilingual Matters.
![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
Robson, S.
(
2006)
Developing thinking and understanding in young children. Routledge.
![DOI logo](https://benjamins.com/logos/doi-logo.svg)
![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
Ryan, R. M., & Deci, E. L.
(
2000)
Intrinsic and extrinsic motivations: Classic definitions and new directions.
Contemporary educational psychology,
25
1, 54–67.
![DOI logo](https://benjamins.com/logos/doi-logo.svg)
![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
Ryan, R. M., & Deci, E. L.
(
2017)
Self-determination theory: Basic psychological needs in motivation, development, and wellness. New York Guilford Press.
![DOI logo](https://benjamins.com/logos/doi-logo.svg)
![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
Spinath, B., & Steinmayr, R.
(
2008)
Longitudinal analysis of intrinsic motivation and competence beliefs: Is there a relation over time? Child Development,
79
1, 1555–1569.
![DOI logo](https://benjamins.com/logos/doi-logo.svg)
![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
Tierney, D., & Gallastegi, L.
(
2011)
The attitudes of the pupils towards modern languages in the primary school (MLPS) in Scotland.
Education 3–13,
39
1, 483–498.
![DOI logo](https://benjamins.com/logos/doi-logo.svg)
![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
Tragant, E.
(
2006)
Language learning motivation and age. In
C. Muñoz (Ed.),
Age and the rate of foreign language learning (pp. 237–268). Multilingual Matters.
![DOI logo](https://benjamins.com/logos/doi-logo.svg)
![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
Williams, M., Burden, R., & Lanvers, U.
(
2002)
‘French is the language of love and stuff’: Student perceptions of issues related to motivation in learning a foreign language.
British Educational Research Journal,
28
1, 503–528.
![DOI logo](https://benjamins.com/logos/doi-logo.svg)
![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
Cited by (2)
Cited by 2 other publications
Kulshayeva, Ainur, Amina Amirova, Saltanat Abildina, Kozhanasiridin Abdikalykov & Gulbarshyn Belgibayeva
2023.
Psychological and Pedagogical Foundations of the Development of Speech Skills of Primary School Students in English Lessons.
International Journal of Early Childhood ![DOI logo](//benjamins.com/logos/doi-logo.svg)
Muñoz, Carmen & Elsa Tragant
2023.
English at the End of Primary School: Explanatory Factors. In
Ten Years of English Learning at School,
► pp. 29 ff.
![DOI logo](//benjamins.com/logos/doi-logo.svg)
This list is based on CrossRef data as of 5 july 2024. Please note that it may not be complete. Sources presented here have been supplied by the respective publishers.
Any errors therein should be reported to them.