Language, Culture and Curriculum Culture Studies and Motivation in Foreign and Second Language Learning in Taiwan (original) (raw)

Demotivation or low motivation has been always at the centre of concerns in the English classroom in Taiwan's junior high schools. The present study investigated the potentiality that Culture Studies has to motivate Taiwanese junior-high-school pupils to learn English, and tried to establish the relations between pupil interests in Culture Studies and their orientations, attitudes, and motivation toward learning English. A total of 480 Grade 1 and 2 pupils from the region of Taipei City and Taipei County answered a questionnaire assessing their desire to learn Culture Studies in the English class, as well as their orientations, attitudes, and motivation towards learning English. Quantitative results indicate that in general, pupils were interested in knowing more about English-speaking countries; that Culture Studies is a useful way trying to increase Taiwanese pupil motivation to learn English.