Original scientific paper

Ariana Violić-Koprivec, University of Dubrovnik, https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7483-0010
Jasenka Maslek, University of Dubrovnik, https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5260-9721

pp. 3-20

https://doi.org/10.38003/zrffs.14.1

Abstract:
In the process of foreign language learning, motivation, as one of the affective
factors, plays a very important role. Motivation is constantly changing during the
learning process. It is associated with dynamic changes and various internal and
external influences students are exposed to. Hence, in this process there are frequent
fluctuations in the level of motivation (Dörnyei and Skehan 2005). In its affective
appearance, motivation significantly influences the manner and course of foreign
language acquisition, determining its intensity, type, duration and effectiveness.
This paper is a follow-up to the research on motivation to learn French and Italian
conducted during the school year 2019/2020 at a vocational high school in
Dubrovnik. The paper sets forth the results of a survey conducted on a sample of
two groups of vocational high school students, one learning French (N=124) and
the other learning Italian (N=146). An adapted questionnaire, originally designed
by Mihaljević Djigunović (1998) to measure both the type and intensity of students’
motivation to learn a foreign language, was used as a measuring instrument. Data
analysis was performed using descriptive and inferential statistics. The aim was
to examine the relationship between motivation and the following factors: gender,
length of study, grades, exposure to extracurricular activities as well as residence
in French/Italian speaking countries. The research results showed a significant
correlation between motivation and these variables in the group of French students,
while in the case of Italian students the correlation of these variables was observed
only on particular scales of motivation. Research studies addressing the issue of
learning these two foreign languages in the Croatian context are scarce. Therefore,
the obtained results contribute to the knowledge about the motivation to learn
French and Italian as foreign languages and can be useful to SLA researchers and
foreign language teachers.

Key words:
affective factors, motivation, French as a foreign language, Italian as a
foreign language, gender, length of study, grade, exposure to the out-of-class content

URL:

https://ffst.unist.hr/en/zbornik/archive/14_2021/14_1