The motivation of the elementary school students of the city of Sinj to learn a foreign language

Ovaj diplomski rad bavi se istraživanjem interesa i motivacije učenika vezano za učenje prvoga i drugoga stranog jezika u osnovnoj školi. Sastoji se od dvaju dijelova. U prvom dijelu rada objašnjeno je značenje pojmova: prvi jezik (L1), drugi jezik (L2), ini jezik i pojmovi integrativna i instrumentalna motivacija. Također je objašnjen proces ovladavanja stranim jezikom. U drugome su dijelu rada izneseni rezultati istraživanja koje je provedeno u dvjema sinjskim školama: osnovnoj školi Marka Marulića i osnovnoj školi Ivana Mažuranića. Cilj je bio utvrditi interes i motivaciju učenika za učenje prvoga i drugoga stranog jezika i koliko njegovo poznavanje učenici smatraju korisnim u daljnjem školovanju, ali i u životu. Osim toga, jedan je od ciljeva bio zaključiti raste li ili pada motivacija za učenje stranoga jezika ovisno o dobi i spolu učenika. Analizom rezultata utvrđeno je kako su učenici motivirani za učenje i usvajanje stranoga jezika, iako je ta motiviranost ipak nešto veća za učenjem prvoga, odnosno engleskoga, nego drugoga (njemačkoga ili talijanskoga) stranog jezika. Također je uočeno kako je kod mlađih učenika veća integrativna motivacija.The focus of this thesis is to analyse the interest and the motivation of the students to learn the first and the second foreign language in elementary school. It consists of two parts. The first part offers the definitions for the terms: first language (L1), second language (L2), other languages and terms integrative and instrumental motivation. Also, it includes the explanation for the process of mastering a foreign language. The second part of the thesis shows the results of the research conducted in two schools of the city of Sinj: Marko Marulić elementary school and Ivan Mažuranić elementary school. The goal was to determine the interest and the motivation of the students for learning the first and the second foreign language and to which extent they consider the skill of knowing a foreign language useful both for their furter education and for life challenges in general. Moreover, one of the primary goals was to determine if the motivation of the students for learning a foreign language increases or decreases depending on the age and gender of the students. The results of this research show how the studentrs are motivated to learn a foreign language, although this refers more to learning the first foreign language, that is English. The students are less motivated to learn the second foreign language, such as Italian or German. Also, it was determined that the integrative motivation is higher when it comes to younger students