Since the introduction of the Spanish language in elementary school in
Sweden in 1994, this language has become larger than other traditional
modern languages such as German and French. As Spanish increases in
popularity, the number of students who discontinue their Spanish studies
also increases.
In this study, forty-five students who take Spanish at the high school level
were asked why they had chosen this language and how motivated they feel
now after studying it for a minimum of three and up to five years. Factors
such as the influence of friends while choosing the language, the information
that the school provided before the language choice, the interest in Spanish
speaking countries’ culture and the use of Spanish in free time, among
others, were investigated in the survey.
The results revealed that most of the students chose Spanish because
it seems amusing and easier than French and German and because they
are interested in traveling to Spanish speaking countries. This study also
showed that most of the students do not feel motivated to continue studying
Spanish but they do it in order to earn merit points that will increase their
chances to get accepted in college. The results were compared with
previous research studies and analyzed with help of the concepts
intrinsic and extrinsic motivation and integrative and instrumental motivations.
2017.
Motivation, inre- och ytter motivation, instrumentella och integrativa motivationer, språkval, meritpoäng, spanskspråket, engelska