Studying foreign languages has significantly decreased in Finnish schools since the mid 1990s. According to educational statistics, Finnish youth do not seem to be particularly interested in studying foreign languages at school anymore. In 1996, almost 43% of the students chose and studied an optional language at the upper level of comprehensive school. In contrast, in 2009 only approximately 14% of the students made the same choice. This phenomenon might be the result of weak motivation to learn a second / foreign language (L2 motivation) and the inability of current language teaching methods and practices to respond to the motivational needs of students. Therefore it is crucial to study closer the motivational structure of students. While L2 motivation has been studied and theorized widely and from various perspectives during the last fifty years (Dörnyei & Ushioda 2009; Dörnyei & Ushioda 2011; Gardner 2010), the research in this area has mainly focused on specific languages, usually one language at a time. The motivation to learn foreign languages in general has, on the other hand, not been studied as widely. The aim of the present study is to analyze the structure of general L2 motivation of Finnish students, and to compare the motivational strength and motivational structure of motivated and unmotivated students. In my study I hypothesize that the dimensions of motivational structure are different between motivated (i.e. those who study optional languages in addition to compulsory languages) and unmotivated (i.e. those who study only compulsory languages) students. In this paper I will present my own research framework and some preliminary results from my study.

Dörnyei, Z. & E. Ushioda (eds.) 2009. Motivation, Language Identity and the L2 Self. Second Language Acquisition. Bristol, UK; Buffalo, NY: Multilingual Matters. Dörnyei, Z. & E. Ushioda 2011. Teaching and Researching Motivation. 2nd edition. Harlow: Pearson Education. Gardner, R. C. 2010. Motivation and Second Language Acquisition. The socio-educational model. Language as Social Action. Vol. 10. New York: Peter Lang.