THE MOTIVATION OF CZECH PUPILS TO LEARN GERMAN AS ANOTHER FOREIGN LANGUAGE

The ability to communicate in foreign languages is one of the key competences of a man in today's modern society. However, learning a foreign language within the institutional education requires sufficient time, will and especially motivation, which is an essential prerequisite for the effective learning process. Since 2013, pupils of Czech elementary schools (ISCED2) have been obliged to learn two foreign languages. After English, which is the first foreign language in the Czech education system, a compulsory additional foreign language comes in the seventh or eighth grade (pupils aged 12-14). Although official documents speak of the possibility of choosing another foreign language, more than half of the students learn German. The following paper presents the results of a research carried out in the school year 2018/19, which tried to shed light on the reasons why pupils choose German as another foreign language, although German is perceived as a difficult and harsh sounding language in the Czech Republic. The results show different intentions of choosing German as another foreign language, and are presented within the context of the language policy in the Czech Republic, which officially supports the European multilingualism. (C) 2019 Published by Future Academy www.FutureAcademy.org.UK