Example of a recent research project

Decoding French, Motivation and Learning a Foreign Language

Funding body: ESRC

Length of project: 15 months

Type of research: survey

Sample population: secondary school learners aged 11-14

Professor Ernesto Macaro and Dr Lynn Erler devised a survey instrument with a test element which sought to correlate students' ability to decode French with their sense of self-efficacy with the language and their motivation to continue learning it. The project began 1 February 2006. A random sample of a cross-section of English secondary schools was obtained from NFER and the survey instrument personally administered by the research officer.