Attitudes towards foreign language learning in protestant and Catholic schools in Northern Ireland

Abstract

Abstract This paper is concerned with the question of whether there are certain differences in the perception of foreign languages between Roman Catholic and Protestant children in Northern Ireland. Existing evidence suggests that there is a general decline in ‘continental languages’ in Protestant grammar schools. The present author was anxious to find out whether Protestant and Catholic pupils differ in their attitudes and motivation toward language learning. A study was thus carried out in six Roman Catholic and Protestant schools in the North‐Eastern part of Northern Ireland. The subjects were all sixth form (18 year‐old) pupils. It was found that the two groups were not entirely different in their approach to the study of language in that both of them showed relatively positive attitudes towards and an interest in foreign languages. However, Catholic children appeared to be more motivated than their Protestant counterparts by environmental factors such as parental encouragement.