Varför ryska? – En fråga om genus? : En fallstudie om motivation till att läsa ryska

Sammanfattning: The teaching of modern foreign languages within Swedish educational system has been a subject of a number of alarming reports in recent years. Several studies have shown that students lack motivation to learn any language but English. Of particular concern is the young males’ underachieving and disinterest in foreign languages.  In the meantime, a number of international studies and the statistical data from Swedish national agencies of secondary and higher education (Skolverket and Högskoleverket) have indicated that Russian is one of the languages that are favoured by males. The primary goal of my case study was, therefore, to examine students’ motivation to learn Russian and their attitudes towards language, community and Russian-speaking people. Another objective was to investigate gender differences in motivational factors. The study was conducted at the Department of modern languages of Uppsala University and the empirical data was collected using a mixed methodology. The questionnaire for the students was based on Gardner’s Attitude / Motivation test battery (AMTB), adapted for the goals and objectives of my research. To place the students’ responses in a wider context, semi-structured interviews with teachers of Russian were conducted. The analysis revealed a high level of both integrative and instrumental motivation for students of both genders as well as intrinsic motivation towards learning Russian. It is seen as a challenging subject to master but this is not perceived as an obstacle; rather, a stimulating factor (especially for males). The results indicate that although male students think of themselves as less motivated than females, the gender differences, in general, were not significant.  Both male and female participants are integrative-orientated. However, women are more likely to identify themselves with the country (or its culture), while men are more fascinated by the language itself.