Young Children's Motivation in Foreign Language Learning

Motivation is one of the most significant predictors of success in foreign language learning. The present study was intended to investigate the motivational orientations (MOs) of 155 fifth grade Ba-Gua Elementary School students and 132 fifth grade Kaohsiung Municipal Shin Juang Elementary School students and examined the differences among them. Ba-Gua Elementary School students were highly influenced by Instrumental MO, Integrative MO and Parent-peer MO. However, Kaohsiung Municipal Shin Juang Elementary School students had a higher mean on Parent-peer MO, followed by Integrative MO and by Instrumental MO. As for Ba-Gua Elementary School, there were significant differences in responses between male students and female students on Instrumental MO, Integrative MO, Language Use MO and Interest MO. However, as for Kaohsiung Municipal Shin Juang Elementary School students, the only gender difference was on Interest MO. Female students had higher motivation than male students in both Ba-Gua and Kaohsiung Municipal Shin Juang Elementary School. These results point to specific behaviors that teachers could exhibit to enhance their students motivation. Implications for the teaching of English at elementary schools are discussed.