An investigation on the motivations of Italian students in learning English

Abstract

This paper starts from a general overview of the sociolinguistic history of Italy, in order to justify the country’s negative attitude towards foreign languages. The study aims to critically discuss the English as a Foreign Language education in Italy. It intends to analyze the classroom environment surrounding English lessons, especially looking at students’ motivation in learning English. Therefore, a survey and semi-structured interviews among high school students between seventeen and nineteen years old have been conducted. The analysis of the students’ responses confirms the main previous theories on motivation: in line with the theory of Csizér &Dörnyei (2005), the importance of knowing the utility of the English language and developing the desire to become integrated in the L2 community happened to be the main driving forces that motivate students to learn English Furthermore, the importance of familiarizing with the target language and culture that constituted the tenth commandment that Csizér and Dörnyei (1998) developed aiming to motivate learners, was reconfirmed. In fact, this research highlights the lack of opportunities for international experience and the consequent low motivation of the students in learning a language without having real contact with the L2 community. Finally, the limitations of the research will be outlined, as well as ideas for further research.