1. Delving into young learners' attitudes and motivation to learn English: comparing the Armenian and the Greek classroom.
- Author
-
SOUGARI, Areti-Maria and HOVHANNISYAN, Iren
- Subjects
COMPARATIVE studies ,PRIMARY education ,MOTIVATION (Psychology) ,ENGLISH language education - Abstract
This paper reports on the findings of a quantitative study conducted among the learners of the sixth grade in the Greek and the Armenian primary educational contexts. This comparative study aimed to unravel the young learners' attitude and motivation to learn English in two different foreign language contexts in order to construe the impact that the socio-educational context plays in their quest for learning English. The data gathering procedure was carried out with the help of a questionnaire that delved into the learners' attitudes and motivation to learn English in general and to establish whether the learners still feel adherent to native speaker norms or whether they show awareness and openness to English as an international language, in particular. The results reflect learners' highly diverse motivational orientation in the educational contexts of the two countries. On the one hand, Greek learners, in general, have more positive attitudes and a higher level of motivation, but, at the same time, exhibit more instrumental orientation, while, on the other hand, Armenian learners' attitudes are less positive, but, at the same time, these learners show a higher disposition to learn English for international communication and opportunities for knowledge growth, experience and job pursuit worldwide. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
- Published
- 2013