Study on gender and motivation in learning Italian as a foreign language

Abstract

This writing presents an investigation on the relationship between gender and motivational levels in learning Italian as a foreign language in Ecuadorian students. The objective of the research was to establish the relationship between gender and motivation in the study participants. The research was developed at the "Giuseppe Garibaldi" Educational Unit, in the Guayaquil canton, Guayas province, Republic of Ecuador. The sample consisted of 120 students of the Basic General Education level, coming from both the Sub-level 3 of Basic Middle, which corresponds to 5th, 6th, and 7th grades with ages ranging from 9 to 12 years of age, as well as students attending Sub-level 4 of Upper Basic which corresponds to 8th, 9th and 10th grades with ages between 12 and 15 years of age. The instrument applied is a version of the Attitude/ Motivation Test Battery (AMTB), designed by Gardner to assess the learning of English as a foreign language. The variables considered were: level of motivation, gender, and educational level of the students. The results show that in both cases, both male and female students are highly motivated to learn Italian as a foreign language.