Yhdeksäsluokkalaisten vieraan kielen oppimismotivaatioprofiilien ja arvosanan yhteydet peruskoulun jälkeisiin jatkosuunnitelmiin -

The connections of ninth graders' L2 motivational profiles and grades to future study plans after basic education

Abstract

In this article I explore the relationship between Finnish ninth graders’ L2 motivational profiles, language grades and future study plans after basic education. The aim of the study is to critically explore the relationship between motivation and language grades and reflect on the possible implications of this for language education policies. The statistically representative data was collected with an e-questionnaire (n=1 206). For this study, I analysed those who planned to continue their studies to general upper secondary school or vocational education after basic education, and who submitted their language grade (n=981). In earlier analyses of the study (Kangasvieri, 2019), five motivational profiles were found: the least motivated, averagely motivated with low anxiety, averagely motivated, the most motivated and students with high anxiety. In this study, the connection between these motivational profiles and students’ education choice is explored, taking into account the effect of grades. A logistic regression analysis was conducted. The results show that the probability to continue to general upper secondary school or vocational education in each motivational profile depends on the grade. The model explains about 30 percent of the students’ educational choices. Additionally, the results show that the more motivated the student is in his/her language studies, the higher grade he/she feels is needed in order to plan to continue to general upper secondary school after basic education. Correspondingly, less motivated students plan to continue to general upper secondary school with poorer grades than more motivated students.