Learning more about our learners: comparing the orientations and attributes of allophone and english-speaking grade 6 French as a second official language learners

Abstract

This article compares the motivational orientations and attributes of three different groups of Grade 6 students of French as a second official language (FSOL): Canadian-born English-speaking learners, Canadian-born bilingual learners, and immigrant multilingual allophones. This mixed-methods study used quantitative questionnaire data and qualitative interview data to determine potential differences in the three populations’ willingness to communicate (MacIntyre, Dörnyei, Clément, and Noels, 1998) and other dimensions of integrative motivation. Quantitative findings reveal stronger motivations for immigrant multilingual learners than the other two groups on most measures, but qualitative findings reveal some contradictions to those results. The study offers insight into the ways different groups of learners are differently motivated to pursue FSOL study in Canada.