Exploring english as a foreign language learners’ experiences under the light of self-determination theory

“English has been a lingua franca for a long time. Much communication among people from different countries takes place in this language. Learning English in Mexico has been a very important issue too. The government has implemented at least 6 years of language courses as mandatory and a project to implement these courses since elementary school has been started. Unfortunately, González, Lima and Castillo (2004) (cited by Davies 2009) stated that this support from authorities has not given the expected results. They asseverated that 76% of students entering universities have beginner/Elementary level according to the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages and only 11% of them have Upper Intermediate level. The difference is enormous and the investment too. Davies (2009) referred that their level of English does not improve significantly after finishing university studies in public school. He pointed out that there have been many 2 factors affecting these results such as the lack of training in teachers, the lack of wellplanned projects and the lack of motivation from the students among other reasons. Johnson (2006) (cited in Davies, 2009) mentioned that positive experiences in language learning helps to motivate them to continue learning.