Cover not available

Article published In: Language Teaching for Young Learners
Vol. 4:2 (2022) ► pp.240–263

Get fulltext from our e-platform
JBE logo with link
PDF logo with download linkDownload PDF
EPUB logo with download linkDownload EPUB

Attitudes and motivation towards learning French in primary school

The role of developmental changes between the ages of 5 and 7

 | University of Essex
Open Access logo
Available under the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) 4.0 license.

For any use beyond this license, please contact the publisher at rights@benjamins.nl.

Open Access publication of this article was funded through a Transformative Agreement with University of Essex.

Published online: 1 August 2022
DOI logo with link
https://doi.org/10.1075/ltyl.22005.myl
Abstract
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)
References
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 logo with link to Google Scholar
Baker, C. (1992). Attitudes and language. Multilingual Matters.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Bandura, A. (1997). Self-efficacy: The exercise of control. New York Freeman.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Bartram, B. (2010). Attitudes to Modern Foreign Language Learning: Insights from comparative education. Continuum. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Bolster, A. (2009). Continuity or a fresh start? A case study of motivation in MFL at transition, KS2–3. Language Learning Journal, 371, 233–254. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Braun, V., & Clarke, V. (2006). Using thematic analysis in psychology. Qualitative Research in Psychology, 31, 77–101. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
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 logo with link to Google Scholar
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 logo with link to Google Scholar
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. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Chambers, G. (1999). Motivating language learners. Multilingual Matters.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
(2016). Pupils’ perceptions of Key Stage 2 to Key Stage 3 transition in modern foreign languages. The Language Learning Journal, 71, 19–33.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
(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, 131, 221–236. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
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, 381, 824–847.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Deci, E. L., & Ryan, R. M. (1985). Intrinsic motivation and self-determination in human behavior. Plenum Press. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
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. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
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. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
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, 331, 377–393. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Dörnyei, Z., & Ushioda, E. (Eds.). (2009). Motivation, language identity and the L2 self. Multilingual Matters. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Enever, J. (Ed.). (2011). ELLiE. Early language learning in Europe. British Council.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Erler, L., & Macaro, E. (2011). Decoding ability in French as a foreign language and language learning motivation. The Modern Language Journal, 951, 496–518. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
European Commission. (2012). SurveyLang: The European survey on language competencies. European Commission.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Fenyvesi, K. (2018). English learning motivation of young learners in Danish primary schools. Language Teaching Research, 1–24. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
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. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
(2022). Self-efficacy and language learning – what it is and what it isn’t. Language Learning Journal, 50(2), 186–207. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
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, 421, 682–702. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
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 logo with link to Google Scholar
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, 31, 419–439. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
(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 logo with link to Google Scholar
Heinzmann, S. (2013). Young language learners’ motivation and attitudes. Bloomsbury Academic.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Kissau, S. (2006). Gender differences in motivation to learn French. Canadian Modern Language Review, 621, 401–422. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Kopp, C. B. (1982). Antecedents of self-regulation: a developmental perspective. Developmental psychology, 181, 199. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
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 logo with link to Google Scholar
Lanvers, U. (2017). Contradictory others and the habitus of languages: Surveying the L2 motivation landscape in the United Kingdom. The Modern Language Journal, 1011, 517–532. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
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, 821, 545–562. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Mackey, A., & Gass, S. (2015). Second language research: Methodology and design (2nd ed.). Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
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, 401, 343–362. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
McCall, I. (2011). Score in French: motivating boys with football in Key Stage 3. Language Learning Journal, 391, 5–18. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
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 logo with link to Google Scholar
(2012). Early EFL in context – Evidence from a country case study British Council ELT Research papers 12–05, 1–18.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
(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. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
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 logo with link to Google Scholar
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. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
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, 521, 1744–1762. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Muñoz, C. (2008). Age-related differences in foreign language learning. Revisiting the empirical evidence. IRAL, 461, 197–220. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
(2017). Tracing trajectories of young learners: Ten years of school English learning. Annual Review of Applied Linguistics, 371, 168–184. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
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, 31, 33–56. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Pfenninger, S., & Singleton, D. (2017). Beyond age effects in instructional L2 learning. Multilingual Matters.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Robson, S. (2006). Developing thinking and understanding in young children. Routledge. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Ryan, R. M., & Deci, E. L. (2000). Intrinsic and extrinsic motivations: Classic definitions and new directions. Contemporary educational psychology, 251, 54–67. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
(2017). Self-determination theory: Basic psychological needs in motivation, development, and wellness. New York Guilford Press. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Spinath, B., & Steinmayr, R. (2008). Longitudinal analysis of intrinsic motivation and competence beliefs: Is there a relation over time? Child Development, 791, 1555–1569. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Tierney, D., & Gallastegi, L. (2011). The attitudes of the pupils towards modern languages in the primary school (MLPS) in Scotland. Education 3–13, 391, 483–498. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
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. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
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, 281, 503–528. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Cited by (7)

Cited by seven other publications

Avello, Daniela & Carmen Muñoz
2025. Primary school learners benefit from captioned video viewing. In Early Language Education in Instructed Contexts [Language Learning & Language Teaching, 62], ► pp. 43 ff. DOI logo
Kasprowicz, Rowena E., Suzanne Graham & Nicola Morea
2025. Child-centred quantitative research. In Child-centered Approaches to Applied Linguistic Research [Research Methods in Applied Linguistics, 13], ► pp. 32 ff. DOI logo
Kulshayeva, Ainur, Amina Amirova, Saltanat Abildina, Kozhanasiridin Abdikalykov & Gulbarshyn Belgibayeva
2025. RETRACTED ARTICLE: Psychological and Pedagogical Foundations of the Development of Speech Skills of Primary School Students in English Lessons. International Journal of Early Childhood 57:1 ► pp. 279 ff. DOI logo
Mitchell, Rosamond
2025. Primary languages: what the research says. The Language Learning Journal ► pp. 1 ff. DOI logo
Ntalli, Athina, Theodora Alexopoulou, Henriëtte Hendriks & Ianthi Maria Tsimpli
2025. The Acquisition of Verbal Morphology by Child Classroom EFL Learners in Russia and China: The Effect of Age and L1. Journal of Child Language ► pp. 1 ff. DOI logo
Zampa, Virginie, Coralie Payre-Ficout & Marie-Pierre Jouannaud
2025. Un escape game sur la comparaison des langues comme levier de la motivation pour l’ouverture aux langues. Alsic 28:3 DOI logo
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

This list is based on CrossRef data as of 27 november 2025. 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.

Mobile Menu Logo with link to supplementary files background Layer 1 prag Twitter_Logo_Blue