Motivation and Attitudes of Roma Pupils toward Learning English as a Foreign Language

Bobić, Maja. (2018). Motivation and Attitudes of Roma Pupils toward Learning English as a Foreign Language. Diploma Thesis. Filozofski fakultet u Zagrebu, Department of English Language and Literature
Department of Ethnology and Cultural Anthropology. [mentor Geld, Renata and Grbić, Jadranka].

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Abstract

This graduation thesis focuses on various affective factors that influence Roma pupils’ process of learning English as a foreign language. Special attention is given to attitudes toward English and Roma pupils’ perception of English, as well as their influence on the pupils’ motivation. The paper starts with presenting the theoretical framework of the study, namely Gardner’s sociocultural model of acquiring a second language, which is followed by a review of some of the relevant research studies conducted in this area of science. The Roma socio-cultural context is addressed by describing the Roma people’s status in Croatian society as well as the circumstances of Roma pupils’ education within the Croatian education system. Description of the participants and methodology of this study is followed by results and discussion. Conclusion sums up main findings, which show that pupils perceive English primarily as a school subject, and their motivation to learn it stems from the school context. It is also concluded that a different approach to research of attitudes and motivation of children is needed, namely one that would take into consideration the children’s culture and worldview.

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