Bucking the trend? Motivational differences between boys and girls who opt in or out of bilingual education

Tessa Mearns, H.C.J. de Graaff

Research output: Contribution to journalArticleAcademicpeer-review

Abstract

Research has suggested that motivation plays a significant role in language learning but that females tend to be more motivated language learners than males. Content and language integrated learning (CLIL) has been suggested as a means of narrowing this motivational gender gap, although there is as yet little empirical evidence to support this claim. In the current study, data regarding the motivation of 581 learners in bilingual and mainstream tracks of Dutch secondary education were analysed for interaction effects in terms of Gender, Education Type, and Year of CLIL study. In this context, it seemed that boys who had chosen bilingual education were the most positive and motivated regarding the learning of English, although girls had more positive attitudes regarding languages in general. No interactions were observed between Gender, Education Type, and Year, suggesting that existing differences may have influenced boys’ decision to follow bilingual education rather than the reverse.
Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)1-26
Number of pages26
JournalJournal of Immersion and Content-Based Language Education,
Volume6
Issue number1
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - Jan 2018

Keywords

  • bilingual education
  • CLIL
  • gender
  • L2 Motivational Self System
  • motivation
  • Netherlands

Fingerprint

Dive into the research topics of 'Bucking the trend? Motivational differences between boys and girls who opt in or out of bilingual education'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

Cite this