The Use of English in the Rap Program Language Learning, Motivation and Personal Interests

Sammanfattning: This study investigates the view of some students and a teacher’s attitudes towards the learning possibilities of the integration of personal interests to the teaching of English. The research carried out at one of the largest profile schools in Sweden, with an aesthetic subject-orientation. These subjects are referred to as “passion subjects”. Qualitative interviews and observation were the methods used for data collection. The research questions were about students’ and teachers attitudes towards the involvement of their passion subject in the formal education process, as well as their views on integrating English as a foreign language in the teaching/learning process of their passion subject. The results show that the teacher and the students view the involvement of students’ personal interests in the formal education as a key source for motivation. Regarding the involvement of English as a foreign language in the passion subject, the results are both positive and negative: positive in the sense that it is viewed as getting extra lessons in English and negative in the sense that information can be overlooked as the students not always understand the input.