Dvorski, Mirna.
(2019).
Attitudes towards Foreign Language Learning in Schools.
Diploma Thesis. Filozofski fakultet u Zagrebu, Department of English Language and Literature.
[mentor Zovko Dinković, Irena].
Abstract
The increasing need for multilingualism in the recent decades has brought language learning
and teaching into focus, both on the national level, where governments need to ensure quality
foreign language education for their citizens, and on personal level, with an increasing number
of individuals being required to speak more than one language. It is not surprising, then, to
find more and more individuals interested in foreign language learning, which is increasingly
introduced in early childhood. When it comes to early foreign language learning, it is the
parents who choose the target language(s) their child is going to learn, their number and
succession. These decisions depend on a number of factors, some of them being the attitudes
of parents towards foreign language learning in general, towards the target language and its
speakers. It is obvious that the attitudinal aspect of foreign language learning is of great
importance, particularly when it comes to the role of parental attitudes in their child’s second
language learning.
The main goal of this thesis is to elicit the attitudes of parents or potential parents towards
bilingualism and foreign language learning in general, towards early foreign language learning,
towards speakers/learners of foreign languages and towards foreign language learning in
Croatian primary schools. Furthermore, the thesis aims to analyse the beliefs of the
participants in relation to contemporary scientific findings in the field of bilingualism.
The second part of the thesis is dedicated to presenting theoretical explanations related to
the focus of the thesis, as well as the conclusions of researchers concerned with (early) foreign
language learning, which serve as a theoretical framework for the present study.
The third part of the thesis involves the research study, which was conducted in the form of a
questionnaire completed by the participants. The results of the study are first analysed
quantitatively and then further discussed and contrasted with the findings of modern
research. The thesis ends with a conclusion, in which the main points of the study are
summarised.
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