Motivation and Choice of a Second Foreign Language in Primary Education

Abstract

The article presents the results of a survey in schools of three regions of Greece (Kilkis, Arta and Athens). The main objective was to study the pupils’ motivation (in primary education) in choosing the second foreign language (the choice between learning French or German). Based on the theory of the "L2 Motivational Self System" (L2MSS) (Dörnyei, 2005, 2009), an integrated synthesis of past theories on the motivation to learn foreign languages, the motivations that drive the pupils to choose to study French or German as a second foreign language within the Greek public school were analyzed and categorized. In particular, the article discusses the kind of motivation ('ideal L2 self' / 'Ought-to L2 self') of pupils, according to the place of ​​residence, aiming at explaining the high differentiation recorded in the choice of the second foreign language between regions of northern and southern Greece.