The closer the better? Contextual and individual influences on young learners' L2 motivation

OneofthemostprominentIDvariablesresearchedalongwithforeignlanguageaptitude is L2 motivation. This chapter aims to provide insights in what constitutes L2 motivation of young learners who learn French and English as part of their mandatory curriculum. It includes two groups of primary school students from different regions in Switzerland, one living close to the French-German language border (LAPS I) and one far away (LAPS II). The effect of proximity to the French language border is of particular interest, since living close to the L2 speech community has been discussed as one of the most crucial influences on L2 motivation. Our results suggest that, while children are generally motivated to learn foreign languages at school, English is clearly favoured by both learner groups. Contrary to previous findings, our data does not corroborate a positive effect of proximity to the French language border on motivation to learn French. In turn, perceived encouragement and support given by the teacher seem to play a vital role in strengthening the learners’ motivation, while effects of parental encouragement, gender and multilingual background are comparatively low.