Learners’ motivation at schools in low SES regions in Hungary

ABSTRACT

Our research attempts to explore the learning motivation patterns of Hungarian pupils from a low SES environment in order to develop an innovative foreign language teaching application. Pupils aged 10–14 were selected from 11 schools in a disadvantaged, low SES region of Hungary (N = 523). We used online questionnaires: a demographic questionnaire, the School Climate Questionnaire and the Learning Motivation Questionnaire. Higher achieving students seem to be less competitive. The difference in motivation regarding maternal educational qualifications is insignificant. Motivational patterns are not affected by low SES, but by the pupils’ affective bonding and attachment to their school. Schools’ motivational profiles differ from each other significantly; however, this does not correlate with the number of low SES pupils.

KEYWORDS:

• Low SES
• learning motivation
• school climate
• foreign language teaching

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Notes

1 http://appsso.eurostat.ec.europa.eu/nui/submitViewTableAction.do

2 School selection is currently free in Hungary.

3 In Hungary, the recommendation of the local priest is usually a simplified procedure, often merely formal.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by Content Pedagogy Research Program of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences [grant number 472025].

Notes on contributors

Tünde Polonyi

Tünde Polonyi is Associate Professor at the University of Debrecen. Her current themes of research are: psychology of language learning and teaching; learning processes of the pupils in economically disadvantaged backgrounds; gamification. She is the author and editor of several books in the series “Psychology in practice” (in Hungarian).

Dániel Balajthy

Dániel Balajthy is Assistant Lecturer at the University of Debrecen. He studies cooperation skills of pupils from economically disadvantaged backgrounds.

Kálmán Abari

Kálmán Abari is Senior Lecturer at the University of Debrecen. His current themes of research are gamification and course material development.

Fruzsina Szabó

Fruzsina Szabó is Assistant Lecturer at the University of Debrecen. She finished her PhD-studies on language aptitude among pupils from low socio-economic status backgrounds.

Judit Pásku

Judit Pásku is Associate Professor at the University of Debrecen. Her current themes of research are: identification and examination of underachiever gifted students; the role of motivation in highly gifted students’ professional development.

Mariann Buda

Mariann Buda’s themes of research are the learning processes of the pupils in economically disadvantaged background; bullying. All authors are members of the MTA-DE Research Group on Foreign Language Teaching.