REASONS AND CIRCUMSTANCES FOR THE CHOICE OF FRENCH LANGUAGE LEARNING BY POLISH SECONDARY SCHOOL STUDENTS

Radosław Kucharczyk

Uniwersytet Warszawski / University of Warsaw

Krystyna Szymankiewicz

Uniwersytet Warszawski / University of Warsaw

Abstract

The aim of this article is to present the results of a sociological study diagnos-ing the reasons and circumstances for the choice of French as a second foreign language by Polish youth in secondary schools. In our study, we focused on two groups of factors. The first of these concerns systemic solutions that affect the position and perception of French as a second foreign language taught in secondary schools as a consequence of the organization of foreign language teaching in Polish schools. The second group of factors is related to students themselves and, more specifically, to social representations they have about French and its learning, language biography and experiences stemming from contacts with French beoynd school. Our goal was to determine if and how these factors have the power to influence the motivation to study French in secondary schools. The study was a survey and included a sample of over 500 secondary school students from Warsaw and nearly 400 secondary school students from the Świętokrzyskie Province.

Keywords:

French, secondary school, Poland, social representation, choice of language