Students' Attitudes and Motivation regarding English Second Language Learning : A study of the effect of sociolinguistic factors

Sammanfattning: The aim of this study is to investigate how students think that sociolinguistic factors such as age, gender, social class, and ethnic identity affect their attitudes and motivation regarding English second language learning in the Swedish upper secondary school. A questionnaire consisting of both qualitative and quantitative questions has been distributed in order to examine students’ attitudes and motivation regarding English second language learning. The data was analysed using a hermeneutic approach. The results show that the influential factors were age, gender and ethnic identity, whereas most of the participants disagreed concerning the influence of one’s social class onlanguage learning. In examining the students’ motivation for English language learning it was found that the majority of the students have a positive attitude due to the status of English as a global language and the possibilities for future employment that a command of English entails. In conclusion, according to the students’ perspectives, sociolinguistic factors do impact on their attitudes and motivation regarding English second language learning at upper secondary school level.    Keywords: Second Language Acquisition, Second Language Learning, Sociolinguistic Factors, Attitude, Motivation