Motivation and English as a foreign language : Motivation among Swedish upper secondary school students

Abstract: In order to be able to influence the motivation of second language learners one first has to understand what motivation is, what its preconditions are and how to detect it. The research for this essay was done with the help of one hundred and ten students from seven classes in two different upper secondary schools and most of these learners were first year students. The aim was to find and measure the students' motivation to learn English and how this motivation can be influenced in a positive manner. The method used to collect the necessary data was a questionnaire which asked questions about the relevancy of the English course and how frequently the students used English and how interested they were in the language. The results give a clear picture of the students' motivational levels as well as to which parts of the English course they respond and to which they do not.