Durability of the will to learn English: A one-year study of Japanese seventh graders

Abstract

The present research investigated changes in the will of Japanese seventh graders to learn English as a foreign language, and studied reasons given by the students for the changes observed. The study was longitudinal, with 81 students at a public junior high school evaluated 4 times during one year. When the students first began to study English, more than 90% of them reported that they had a strong will to learn. However, by the end of the year, only 60% continued to report a strong will. The change in reported will from high to low occurred mainly in the second term. The students whose will became low had low self-efficacy after the final exam at the end of the first term.