1. Judit Kormos and Kata Csizér
Age-related Differences in the Motivation of Learning English as a Foreign Language
Judit Kormos and Kata Csizér

2. This study describes the motivation for learning English as a foreign language in three distinct learner populations.

3. secondary school pupils,
university students,
adult language learners.

4. In this context, most language teachers who work both in the public and private language teaching sectors would admit that adults and adolescents require different motivational strategies.

5.   The research’s aims
Firstly, the authors explore possible differences among three distinct learner groups.
Secondly, they also intend to test the role of three main concepts in learning English.

6. For the secondary school pupils:
in English-language cultural products that affected their motivation

7. For the two older age groups :
the L2 as instrumental in getting better jobs and higher salaries.

8. Data
Participants
secondary school and university students as well as adult language learners.
A total of 623 participants were asked to fill in the questionnaires.

15. 76 questions for secondary school and university students
72 questions for adult learners.

16. Aimed to measure the most important factors in L2 learning motivation.

17. The questions mainly intended to cover the following three variables:

18. 1. Integrativeness Example: How much would you like to become similar to the people who speak English?

19. 2. Instrumentality
Example: How much do you think knowing
English would help your future career?

20. 3. Cultural interest
Example: How much do you like the films made in the United States?

21. Results
Integrativeness University students’ and adults’ scores showed that they accepted the international role of the English language and regarded the knowledge of this language highly useful in today’s globalized world.

22. Results Integrativeness
For secondary school students, however, this did not seem to be an important factor in learning English.

23. Results Instrumentality
University students and adults seemed highly motivated to learn the language.

24. Results Instrumentality
Secondary school students’ scores on the instrumentality scales were lower.

25. Results Cultural interest
Cultural interest was a significant factor in the secondary school sample.

26. Results Cultural interest
It did not seem to give much incentive to the other groups to learn English or to improve it.

27. Discussion
The authors found out that as students get older, the concept of integrativeness seems to be less important for learners and its role seems to be taken over by that of instrumentality.

28. Discussion
The results might also suggest that in countries like Hungary, where the national economy is largely dependent on foreign companies and international relations, the role of instrumental incentives play a more important role in learning English.

29. Discussion The language learning attitudes of
younger students are primarily based on classroom experience and are largely shaped by teachers,
older students have clear goals with language learning and are less dependent on their teacher and classroom experiences.

30. Discussion
For university students, there is a compulsory factor in language learning, as they cannot receive their diploma until they obtain the language certificates.

31. Discussion
The adult learners might learn English in their free time for their own pleasure, yet they might also experience pressure from the job market to have a high L2 competence.