Effect of difficulty of a language on intrinsic motivation to learn a language: Swedish and Hungarian
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2022-08-08
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en
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The study examines the effect of the difficulty of a language on intrinsic motivation. The
researched languages are Swedish and Hungarian. In total, 30 people between the ages of 18
and 30 participated in the research. They were randomly assigned to one of the two groups.
The groups differed in the order the languages were presented. The first hypothesis was that it
is expected that information gaps in the easy language Swedish might increase the intrinsic
motivation of the participants to learn Swedish. The second hypothesis was that it is expected
that information gaps in the difficult language Hungarian decreases intrinsic motivation of the
participants to learn Hungarian. A study with a learning and testing phase was created to test
this. To examine the hypotheses, two regression analyses were used. Three paired samples ttests
and one Wilcoxon Signed Rank test were conducted to get additional information about
the intrinsic motivation, difficulty and competence. Concluding, both hypotheses of the study
are not confirmed. However, the competence for Swedish and the intrinsic motivation to learn
Swedish is increased. Explanations for the results are discussed in the light of the selfdetermination
theory. The results can be widely used. For example, for refugees that want to
settle in a new country or in the context of language learning in schools.
Keywords: language learning, information gap theory, intrinsic motivation, selfdetermination
theory
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Faculteit der Sociale Wetenschappen