Motivation for LOTE learning: a cross-country comparison of university learners of French

This study responds to calls for more research on motivations for learning languages other than English (LOTEs) in the new era dominated by global English. In particular, it focuses on the role of societal contextual factors surrounding the status of English and the status of the LOTE as an L2/L3, as factors which may offer a more nuanced understanding of motivation in the case of LOTE learning. It presents a comparative quantitative analysis of a series of motivational constructs among 527 university learners of French in four European countries, chosen to reflect the differential status of English in their respective societies: L1 in England and Ireland, L2 in Sweden and foreign language (FL) in Poland. While the relative importance assigned by the learners to the motivational constructs examined was found to be remarkably similar across the four countries, the highest levels of motivation were observed among learners in the two L1-English countries (England and Ireland). The findings are discussed in terms of the societal status of English within the context of the potential relationship holding between L2 and L3 motivation.