Language Learning Motivation and Language Attitudes in Multilingual Spain From an International Perspective

In Spain, more than 40% of the population lives in officially bilingual regions in which the minority language is used as a means of instruction at school and university. In addition, the increasing importance attached to learning English has led to the proliferation of multilingual school programs in which different languages are used to teach content. With this background in mind, this article analyzes students' motivation to learn Spanish, minority languages (Basque, Catalan, or Galician), and English (as the predominant foreign language). Because the percentage of immigrant students has steadily increased in the last 2 decades, special attention will also be paid to how they react to the multilingualism they have to face in the education system. The review of the literature will critically discuss the impact of global English on motivation to learn the other languages in contact and will examine the adequacy of current research approaches with a view to developing an agenda for needed research.