María Angeles Goicoechea Gaona

Motivación para el aprendizaje de español en una universidad francesa fronteriza

This paper examined the motivation of the University of Pau students to learn Spanish as a foreign language. Qualitative methods have been used such as the analysis of open-ended interviews. The research findings show that students at the University of Pau are highly motivated to learn Spanish because of their teachers’ attitudes and the cultural similarities between Spain and France. Our studies revealed some difficulties of the French students related to the pronunciation, vocabulary used in daily life, Spanish verb conjugation and listening comprehension of native speakers. As a result, the development of oral communication skills is recommended. The report concludes that there is an intrinsic motivation (to learn Spanish) among the University of Pau students at each Faculty.