Examining the Motivation of Beninese Advanced Students to Learn English and Spanish as Foreign Languages

Abstract

The purpose of this qualitative study was to examine the motivation of the advanced language learners of Spanish and English in Benin. To collect the data, a two part questionnaire was administered to 120 respondents randomly selected in different secondary schools. The most important findings of the study were the differences in integrative and extrinsic motivation. Actually, the participants were more interested in English than Spanish and thus the integrative motivation was stronger in English. The participants’ motivation to learn both languages is more integrative than instrumental. Extrinsic motivation, on the other hand, is stronger in the Spanish language compared to English. Gender differences appeared in extrinsic and instrumental motivation towards English: girls were slightly more extrinsically motivated to learn English than boys, and boys had more instrumental motivation towards English. In Spanish, more girls than boys seem to acknowledge the value of Spanish in the future.