TABLE OF CONTENTS

Table of contents ………………………………………………………………………………….1

Abstract …………………………………………………………………………………………...2
Acknowledgements ……………………………………………………………………………….3
Dedication …………………………………………………………………………………………4
Chapter 1: Introduction ……………………………………………………………………….....5
1.1- Introduction ……………………………………………………………………….......5
1.2- Language Policy in Morocco………………………………………………………….6
1.3- The role of English in Morocco……………………………………………………….6
1.4- Objectives of the study ………………………………………………………………..6
1.5- Research Questions …………………………………………………………………...7
1.6- Scope of the study ………………………………………………………………….....7
1.7- Significance of the study ……………………………………………………………...7
Chapter 2: Literature Review ……………………………………………………………………8
2.1- Introduction …………………………………………………………………………...8
2.2- Language Choice & English language………………………………………………...8
2.3- Motivation in language learning………………………………………………………9
2.4- Attitude in language learning………………………………………………………...11
2.5- Socio economic background and language learning…………………………………12
2.5.1-social background…………………………………………………………..12
2.5.2-economic background……………………………………………………....13
2.5.3- The role of socio-economic background in learning English language…...14
Chapter 3: Methodology ………………………………………………………………………..15
3.1- Introduction ……………………………………………………………………….....15
3.2- Respondents ………………………………………………………………………....15
3.3- Instruments ……………………………………………………………………….....15
3.3.1- Questionnaire ……………………………………………………………...15
3.3.2- Interviews ………………………………………………………………….16
3.4- Data collection procedure …………………………………………………………...16
3.4.1-Questionnaires……………………………………………………………...16
3.4.2-Interviews…………………………………………………………………..17
3.5- Data analysis ………………………………………………………………………...17
3.6- Conclusion ………………………………………………………………………......17
Chapter 4: Data presentation and analysis…………………………………………………….18
4.1-Personal variables…………………………………………………………………….18
4.2-Questionnaire analysis………………………………………………………………..19
4.3-Interview analysis…………………………………………………………………….29
Chapter 5: Discussion, limitations, and conclusion……………………………………………30
5.1- Discussion………………………………………………………………………........30
5.2-Implications………………………………………………………………………......30
5.3-Conclusion………………………………………………………………………........31
References ……………………………………………………………………………………….32
Appendices ………………………………………………………………………………………34

1
 Abstract

The main purpose of this present study is to assess the attitude of students toward English
learning in Moroccan high school. The study examines to know to what extent are the
students motivated to use and learn English, and to what extent they are enthusiastic to learn
English, in addition to the role of parents and teachers in motivating the respondents.

This study comprised a questionnaire distributed to 30 students, aged between 15 to 19

years old. The questionnaire was designed to obtain informa tion about the respondents’ use of
English, their attitudes towards English and their motivation for learning English. Also we
interviewed two teachers to obtain in-depth insights on these elements.

This study reveals that the respondents generally had a positive attitude towards learning
English. In addition, the respondents were motivated to learn English regardless of their
family backgrounds and proficiency levels.

2
 Acknowledgements
Before we thank our supervisor, we would to thank Allah who made us to be a part of this
world, and helped us to work on this monograph.

We would like to take this opportunity to express our substantial gratitude and deep regard
to our supervisor M rs. Sana Abouzaid, for her exemplary guidance, valuable feedback and
constant encouragement throughout the duration of the project. Her valuable suggestions were
of incentive help throughout our monograph. Her perceptive criticism kept us to work on
making this project in much better way. Working under her supervision was an extremely
knowledgeable experience for us.

We owe a particular depth of gratitude to our beloved parents for their shining advice and
valuable encouragement.

We would also like to give our sincere gratitude to all the friends and colleagues who filled
in the survey, without them this research would be incomplete.

Thanks are due to all our teachers, parents, family, friends and everybody who has
contributed to bring this humble work into being.

Hamza, Jaouad, Abdellah & Jawad

3
 Dedication

We dedicate this humble work to our parents. This research Paper is lovingly
dedicated to our respective parents who have been our constant source of inspiration.
They have given us the drive and discipline to tackle any task with enthusiasm and
determination. Without their love and support this project would not have been made
possible.

Our mothers: Fadma, Fatima, Malika, and Fatima; the symbol of love, sacrifice and
affection.
Our fathers: Abdessalam, Yusuf, Lahcen, and Abdullah; the symbol of patience and
financial help.

This study dedicated also to our dear brothers:

(Mohammad, Yassine, and Loqman) & ( Mouad, Mohamed) & (Brahim) & (Hamid
and Mohamed)

To our beloved sisters: (Khadija, Rabiaa, and Nouhaila) & (Naima, Kaltoum, Latifa,
Zahra, Soumia, and Khadija) & (Naima, Rachida, and Lamia).

To our teachers, aunts and uncles, grandfathers as well as grandmothers.

To all members of our families.

It is dedicated to our best friends too:

Abderrazzak, Rachid, Ayoub, Soufiane, Kamal, Yassine, Abdessamad, Radouane,
Mustapha, Abdelfattah, Soumia, Zinbe, Latifa, Mohamed, Omar, Abdessadek,
Mohamed, Zakaria, Youssef, Houcine, Mohamed, Yusuf, Ayoub, Mohamed, Khalid,
Adam, Lhoussain, Ilyas... Etc.

To all our respectful friends without exception.

Actually, words cannot express our feeling when it comes to thanking our
supporters for their help and contribution to our research; to everyone who gave us
his/her hand in the burden of this monograph

4
 CHAPTER I
Introduction

1.1 Introduction:

Education is a learning process of helping new generations to gain the necessary

information and horizon, and to develop their personality while preparing themselves to be a
part of community. In other words, at the present time, it is very important to learn a foreign
language to be a part of the community in the globalizing world.

English plays a crucial role in every country in which does not only help in the growth of
the economy, but it is also important in the development of the nation. In today’s global
economy, the success of the nation depends mainly on the skills and the knowledge that the
individual shows in competing towards the growth. It is not new that individuals with higher
levels of education tend to enjoy greater economic prosperity.

This study examines how attitude affects English language learning among Moroccan high
school students. Student’s attitude is an integral part of learning; therefore it should become
an essential component of second language learning pedagogy. Attitudes toward learning are
believed to influence behaviors such as selecting and reading books, speaking foreign
languages etc. Especially in education, if the students have positive attitude towards any
subject, they can achieve many things in that specific area. There is an interaction between
language learning and the environmental components in which the students were grown up.
Both negative and positive attitudes have a strong impact on the success of language learning.

In our study, we would take into consideration a very attention to the role of parents
towards English learning among their children. Parents’ role in language learning is very
important. A student to be more enthusiastic to learn any language, his or her parents should
motivate her/him. In this case, we will have a conscious society towards any language.

1.2 Language Policy in Morocco:

Morocco is classified as a multilingual country because of its importance geographic

location where the country is situated at the crossroads of Africa, Europe, and the Middle
East, making Morocco open to a variety of linguistic influences. The history of the country
has a role in shaping the situation of languages that are spoken in the whole country.

After independence Moroccan citizens had been required to learn foreign languages
especially French and Spanish that is why so many administrations in the state use Arabic as a
first language and French as first foreign language. In addition to what has been mentioned
above, the cultural and linguistic context of Morocco is characterized by the significant use of
Arabic, as well as the presence of Berber, French, Spanish, and English.

Morocco as an Islamic state it is obvious to all that Arabic language as a language of the
holy book _the holy Quran and the language of Islamic tradition_ has to be the first language
that exists in all institutions that is to say the language of the Qur’an and pre-Islamic poetry.

5
 Standard Arabic was introduced in Morocco at the end of the Seventh and the beginning of
the eighth centuries from the East and Islamic Iberia. It has great prestige as the „language of
God‟ and as the unifying language at the levels of the Arab world (al-umma al-arabiyyah) and
the Muslim world (al-umma al-islaamiyyah).

Clearly since 1960s the policy of language planning in Morocco was characterized by the
different socio cultural sector especially the mass media, education and governmental
administration. Moreover the new language policy of teaching Berber (Tamazight) in
Moroccan schools, which came into effect in the fall of 2003 when Tamazight was for the
first time introduced in some 300 elementary schools across the country. And also the new
Moroccan constitution also represents a historical turn in that it has acknowledged Berber as
an official language, a move that has raised several questions with regard to the real
motivation behind it.

1.3 The role of English in Morocco:

There are a number of languages in Morocco. And English is one of these languages; it is
rapidly becoming the second foreign language of choice among educated youth, after French.

“English is widely regarded as having become the global language which has indeed known
a rapid spread since the rise of the U.S. as the world superpower, with a lot of speakers
worldwide; consequently, there is a considerable increase in the number of people learning
and using English worldwide as a result of decisions and actions taking by governments,
institutions, and individuals”. (Alami T. 2013)

English has become the language of information programming, i.e. the digitization of
public administration, the means of audio-visual communication as well as shopping through
the Internet and other areas. Moroccan learner is in need of English to keep pace with the
digital revolution.

Moroccan students have to learn English because it is a necessary language for them and
they need to master this language to prepare them for the world which is full of competition.
To meet the demands of globalization, they will also need to have good communication skills,
as only the best will be selected by employers.

To conclude, English gained prestige within Morocco and many Moroccans become aware
of the importance of this language worldwide.

1.4 Objectives of the study:

This study aims to examine the attitudes towards English language learning among
Moroccan high school students. This study specifically looks at a group of high school
students to examine what are their attitudes towards the use of English and English Language
learning, in addition to their level of English. It was noticed that the most of students prefer
using English compared to French. This study also aims to discover the methodology of
teaching and learning English is used in Moroccan high school sc hools.

6
The main objectives for the present study are:

a) To examine the use of English among Moroccan high school.

b) To examine the attitude of the respondents towards English language learning.
c) To examine the role of parents at encouraging their children to learn and use English.
d) To examine the role of teachers in motivating students in their classrooms.
e) To examine the contribution of Moroccan government in language learning.

1.5 Research questions:

This study addresses four research questions which are as follows:

a) Attitudes towards English language learning among Moroccan high school students.
b) To what extent do the respondents learn and use English in classroom and with their
friends?
c) To what extent are the respondents motivated to use and learn English?
d) To what extent parents help their children to learn English?

1.6 Scope of the study:

This study focuses on English language as it is the second foreign language in Moroccan
schools and also a compulsory subject, where all the students are required to sit for the
English examination in their government examination. By examining the use of English by
Moroccan high school students into the classroom and with their friends. The use of English
in a multicultural environment such as Morocco is a broad study. This study focuses on the
language use and attitudes towards English language usage and learning among high school
students.

1.7 Significance of the study:

This study will be significant endeavor in promoting the language usage among high school
students. By understanding the needs of students in language learning, this study will help the
Ministry of Education planners to obtain a picture of the situation on the ground and this may
be useful for curriculum planners.

7
 CHAPTER II
Literature review

2.1- Introduction:

The second section of this work is devoted only to literature review. Moreover, because the
topic is quite broad and critical in nature, a step by step approach should be adopted to
complete this proposal. In the first angle we will discuss the language choice English as an
example. In the second angle we are going to give reasons that make motivation so important
in language learning. For the next section we will highlight aspects of attitude in learning
language. Finally we are going to see in the fourth angle how the socio-economic background
has a great role in defining performance in the target language.

2.2- Language Choice & English language:

Language is a vital tool for communication. It is not only a means of communicating

thoughts and ideas, but it builds friendships, economic relationships and cultural ties. We can
communicate only with signs without language. More over a language distinguishes the
differences and also celebrates the uniqueness of cultures in a country or in a region or in a
community. A Language shapes the way people perceive the world and it also helps to define
culture of any society. Any language is a gift the knowledge of more than one language makes
a man more efficient and skillful in many ways. It opens our minds and guides us into a
magical world of fancies and dreams. To certain the proper learning of language helps us to
develop ourselves, our minds, and also our personality. Human language is unique because it
is a symbolic communication system that is learned instead of biologically inherited for some
people. Language has three important functions which are informative function is to
communicate any information, expressive Function its occur is to convey the feelings or
emotions or attitudes of somebody and the last is directive function which directs us to do
some actions.

English has been considered to be the first global Lingua Franca. In today's modern world
the English language has become part and parcel of every existing field. It has been an
international language of communication, business, science, information technology,
entertainment and so on. Earlier everyone is considered to be literate by their degrees and
diplomas, but the knowledge of English language makes an individual literate in today's
world. Though many countries do have English as their native language, those who have the
command over the English Language are considered and respected as highly educated.
Moreover the ocean of career opportunities is opened to those English speaking people
anywhere and everywhere. It has become the working of English and also an inevitable
requirement for a number of fields, professions such as computing and medicine.

The English language is considered as a universal language, mainly because it is the most
spoken language worldwide. There are many reasons why English language is a universal
language for the world of today.

8
 a- Internet:
Due to the rapid growth of Information Technology especially the world of internet,
English Language rules users of Internet. We cannot be effective in the internet world without
the English Language. It has also become the official language of the internet.

b- Education:
The field of education has amplified the function of English Language. Most of the
educational resources, materials and books are in English. The global educational systems in
the universities around the world have the requirement of English Language. People who
study abroad use English language as a medium of communication and learning.

c- Communication:
The most important function of a language is to communicate properly. Hence English
language also plays a powerful tool in communication. In order to communicate successfully,
one needs a language that is commonly understood by most of the people in the speech
community as English.

d- Business:
English language has been the language of business in today's electronic world. A good
number of companies have ventured into sending the production overseas in order to cut
down their costs. In other words, the companies around the world are in to outsourcing and
off-shoring business. In order to communicate with the business people of other countries,
English Language becomes the effective tool.
Today’s world of globalization, we have to get knowledge of advanced technologies and
all kinds of branches of Science. There is an urgent requirement of such a common language
which can be understood by people all over the world the language in which all data and
information is available. Moreover English language becomes a store house of social and
political knowledge. The most recent and the most sophisticated discoveries and inventions in
science and technology are being made in the universities located in the United States of
America where English language is the means of scientific discourse.

2.3 Motivation in language learning:

As mentioned by Gardner (2006, p. 242) “motivation is a very complex phenomenon with

many facets. Thus, it is not possible to give a simple definition”. The word motivation has
received many different views from different schools of thought. From the cognitive
perspective, it is described as connected to the decision of the student. Keller (1983), cited in
Brown (2000, p. 160), explains that motivation is described as “the choices people make as to
what experiences or goals they will approach or avoid, and the degree of effort they exert in
that respect”. Hawkins (1993, p. 132) defines motivation as “what drives or induces a person
to behave in a particular fashion (…) the internal force which initiates, directs, sustains and
terminates all important activities. It influences the level of performance, the efficiency
achieved and the time spent on an activity”. All the definitions above are true and could be

9
summarized as what drives one to perform and act. In this study, motivation is very much
related to social factors and it plays a great role for one to be able to use or choose English as
a spoken language based on their surroundings and exposure.

Motivation is considered as one of the most influencing factors in learning a second

language (L2). There are two common types of motivation; intrinsic motivation and extrinsic
motivation. Intrinsic motivation is related to one who works hard to achieve his or her goal
without expecting any form of reward (Bandura, 1977). Extrinsic motivation is normally
related to the motivation where the learner performs an act just to gain a reward. The learner’s
performance is influenced by the reward that is offered. It is very normal for one to do things
in order to gain something. This has been shown in a few studies conducted such as Brown
(2000) in his study says that when one wants to learn an additional language and in this case
English as a second language, the learner would expect something in return which is known
as instrumental and integrative motivation. Instrumental motivation is defined by Gardner
(1983, p. 203) as "learning a language because of someone or less clearly perceived utility it
might have for the learner". It is very clear that one is mainly instrumentally motivated,
especially when they want to learn a new language as also mentioned b y Wilkins (1972, p.
184) as "to pass an examination, to use it in one's job, to use it on a holiday in the country, as
a change from watching television, because the educational system requires it"

Gardner (1983, p. 203) on the other hand also gives another definition for integrative
motivation as "learning a language because the learner wishes to identify himself with or
become integrated into the society”. Upon looking at all the definitions, it gives a clear idea
that a learner is only integratively motivated when they learn a language because the situation
would be either they want to learn the language or not.

Cooper and Fishman (1977, p. 243) mentioned another type of motivation that is important
in language learning. It is described as “developmental” motivation. This motivation is also
known as personal motivation which is influenced by “personal improvement or personal
gain”. This type of motivation involves activities such as reading books or watching movies in
the target language in order to learn the language. Most researchers agreed with Spolsky
(1989, p. 160) who says that “a language may be learned for any collection of practical
reasons” and this was supported with example of a study which involves level of motivation
of engineering students’ to learn English that is related to developmental motivation. To
conclude this, all types of motivation are closely related to the students’ needs and goals and
if one would want to achieve the goals, they will work towards it. This is agreed by Crookes
and Schmidt (1991, p. 10) “the learner’s orientation with regard to the goal of learning a
second language”.

Motivation is known to be the main reason that is related to the success of second language
learning. Motivation is a force of energy that leads towards goals and many studies have
shown that the main factors that determine the success of second language learning is the
participation and to what extent the learner wants to learn the language.

10
 In learning a second language or a foreign language, motivation is a key factor that cannot
be denied. As mentioned by Lifrieri (2005, p. 4) “when asked about the factors which
influence individual levels of success in any activities such as language learning, most people
would mention motivation among them”. Brown (2000, p. 160) says that "it is easy in second
language learning to claim that a learner will be successful with the proper motivation". The
same goes with Gardner (2006, p. 241) who assumed that “students with higher levels of
motivation will do better than students with lower levels of motivation”. He continues by
saying that “if one is motivated, he/she has reasons for engaging in the relevant activities,
expands effort, persists in the activities, attends to the tasks, shows desire to obtain the goal
and enjoys the activities”.

2.4- Attitude in language learning:

One of the important branches that humanity cannot become real humanity without it is
education. It can be defined as the powerful tool which helps to modify the behaviour of the
child according to the needs and expectancy of the society (this definition is one of general
definitions of the term ) .To be linked with education ,it is essential to mention the
components of that huge scope ; there are teachers ,experts ,government ,applied
linguists ,society .the concentration will be on the student that is why the attitude of him /her
has a strong impact on knowing the results of any field either they are positive or negative
especially in language learning .So it is a must to explore the attitudes of students toward
English language as one of international languages .clearly ,attitudes toward learning are
believed to influence behaviours such as selecting and reading books ;speaking in a foreign
language etc .Consequently ,if students have a positive attitude toward English ,it means they
would achieve desirable results and get highest grade in their career, what have been said is
proved by the point of view of DANIEL KATZ who claims that attitude is a hypothetical
construct that represents an individual’ s degree of like or dislike for an item. Attitudes are
generally positive or negative views of persons ,places ,things ,or even this is often referred to
as the attitudes objects .People also can be conflicted or ambivalent toward an object
,meaning that simultaneously persons .The attitudes of learners towards learning a particular
l2 is shaped by the intersection of their attitudes about their own ethnic identity and those
about the target language culture .of course there are so many studies which has been done in
these wonderful aspects ; one of those studies have investigated the relationship between
previous experiences in foreign language classes and attitudes toward learning second
language (done by Sparks ,Ganschow ,and Javorsky 1993) .If we take into account this study
and apply in Morocco, English may be influenced because it is classified as a second foreign
language .Also in the other side ,scholars do not yet reach an agreement on the definition of
the concept (attitudes) hence there are a lot of different definitions ,they discover they
complexity of the term. These things which are mentioned above drive us to look for other
components of that concept.

According to the experts, the term attitude has to be studied from three main major
dimensions the first one is effective component and the second one cognitive component and
the last one is behavioural.

11
 1) The first one refers to feelings

2) The second one includes beliefs

3) The last one is made of behavioural intentions or actions tendencies

*The influence of positive attitude on the language learne r

When a student has a positive attitude toward a language it is obvious to all that this thing
will push him to do all the best for mastering any language .Hence positive attitude has an
influence on the identifying of his or her level .A language learner in this case ,surely, is
going to break all obstacles that may stand in front of him in his journey and he would devote
all his time to master any language by interacting with native speakers then exploiting
technology for this purpose, using different strategies .

* The factors that may influence the attitudes of a language learner.

The attitude learners have towards is the first factor that can impact the choice of a
language learner .The second one is that the target language; that language is targeted by the
government and his school means that there is an academic goal. Moreover, the social value
of learning the target language for instance in Morocco so many university students whose
branches are not English have a strong willingness to learn foreign languages especially
English so the society has a direct influence on the process of learning languages .To sum up
students themselves as members of their own culture will have either a positive or negative
influence on the desire of learner and hence, their ability to achieve proficiency in target
language.

2.5 Socio-economic background and learning language:

2.5.1 Social background:

Social Factors are like behavioral factors which have a real dominance on one’s life.
Family and school are considered as the two main social environments in which a child
grows, so there is a harmony between the learner and his/her environment.

The individual’s socio-psychological perspective is determined by these two social

environmental factors which cannot be overlooked. The social aspects of language acquisition
culminate in the differences in language development and use among the learners from
different social classes.

The language heard and spoken by a child from a lower working-class home has a
difference in content from the language used by a child from a middle-class home background
(Bernstein 1961). The social interaction of middle class children at home help them develop
extensive vocabulary, while working class children, who are deprived of this opportunity for
learning, have learning difficulty in formal situations.

12
 2.5.2 Economic background:

Like economic factors, social factors are also extremely important to be influenced and met
accordingly (Edward 2000).A lot of literature and theories have been proposed and written
already in this context defining economic factors and their importance in the life of people
(Baharudin and Luster 1998). It is clear that a person with healthy and wealthy economic
view is more efficient and happier than a person who is not efficient in economy. Practical
examples of this thing can be easily found in the current economic environment wherein
people who have strong economic background are dominating the entire society. It is said that
money is important in life. Lots of authors and officials have noted down economic factors as
the real important ones for the entire structure of a person or for an economy (Edward 2006).
Maslow is among those authors who presented the economic factors in a somewhat different
manner. According to Maslow (1943), economics is nothing but a key to enhance motivation
among the people of a society. To conceptualize and understand this entire concept, it is
necessary to include Maslow Economic Theory which is also called Maslow Motivational
Theory. Below is the diagram of Maslow Economic Theory, followed by a thorough
elucidation of its principles:

Figure 1: Maslow Economic Theory (Edward 2000)

In brief, socio-economic factors are for the most part closely related to language
development. Barton (1962) in a survey found that socio-economic class was the most crucial
factor of success in reading in school. Most studies indicate that students from upper social
class come to school with more background knowledge and experience than those from lower
social class. The past experiences that students from the upper social class possess enable and

13
help them learn the tasks in a fast manner (Henry 1963). Parental care and encouragement
towards children and their education as well as the provision of facilities, such as adequate
stimulating reading materials, enhance their willingness to learn and develop their skills.
These factors affect the social context of learning in the family. Social learning experiences in
the family vary from one to another according to the individual’s home status. According to
Coleman and Ajech, significant difference in the academic performance o f students from
various socioeconomic statuses home has been reported (Coleman 1966; Ajech 1991).

2.5.3 The role of socio-economic background in learning English language:

The socio-economic standing of a student is namely evaluated by merging parents’

educational echelon, occupational standing, and income level (Jeynes 2002). Studies have
habitually shown that socio-economic standing influences student results (Majoribanks 1996;
Jeynes 2002; Eamon 2005). Students who have a low socio-economic standing attain less test
grades and tend to be more prone to withdrawing from school. Low socio-economic standing
students have been found to achieve grades about 10% lower on national assessment
programs than higher socio-economic standing learners (Seyfried 1998).

That reflex on the performance of students in learning English language. The biggest aspect
that plays a vital role in directing the performance of English Language lear ner is mental
satisfaction (Richard. 1995, Hill et al.2004). Statistics revealed that in English Language
classes, students with a good economic background take good grades as compared to the
students who are low in economic prosperity. Social Factors, like buying behavior, are
important to discuss because the association of fees is very high with English Language
learning programs (Richard 1995).

14
 CHAPTER THREE
Methodology

3.1- Introduction:

First of all, it is better to show which methodology that we used in our monograph. In this
study the central questions that are addressed to Moroccan high school students of this
research; what is their attitude toward English language learning, to what extent the
respondents use English at home, to what extent they are motivated to use and learn English,
and to what extent the parents motivate them to learn English. In order to complete the study,
the most appropriate instrument found was a questionnaire and followed by interviews with
teachers.

3.2 Respondents:

Thirty students from a mixed gender (male and female) were selected. All the respondents
selected have studied English in school “IBNOU MAJA high school” at Dakhla District
Agadir city. The respondents have different age 15to19 years old as they have different levels
in English; beginner, intermediate, and advanced. Concerning reasons of English learning, the
respondents have different opinion using percentage; 56% like it, followed by 27% need it
and 17% it is in the program. We tend to ask students about the central question of this
research which is the attitude toward English learning; in fact many of the respondents about
83% have positive attitude; furthermore, as parents have positive attitude and this may make
students more motivated by their parents. In the other hand, the respondents use variable
techniques to learn English; either by watching English movies about 53%, listening to
English music about 29% and other techniques as it is shown in figure number 12.
Concerning interviews, we use modern mediation by asking teachers using some social
networks.

3.3 Instruments:

The two instruments which were exploited in this study were questionnaires and interviews
regarding high school student’s attitude towards English language. These two instruments are
attached in (Appendix 1 and 2)

3.3.1 Questionnaire:

A questionnaire was used to collect data on the respondents' background information. This
was followed by the choice of language preferred by the respondents. In the questionnaire, the
respondents were asked about their attitudes toward English Language learning and what
motivated them to study English. In addition to the role of parents in motivating students to
learn English; this was useful to answer the question where the parents’ contribution towards
English Language learning process, especially when we look at the language used by
respondents at home. Information on the involvement of parents was sought to gather details

15
on how parents contribute to the English language learning among this group of respondents.
This was related to the extent to the respondents motivated to use and learn English. The
respondents were asked to indicate which techniques they use to improve their English.

In the questionnaire (see Appendix1), scaled questions were prepared and these items were
designed such that respondents had to select one response from the three given. Selected-
responses of forced choice item were used because it enhances consistency of response across
respondents while making data tabulation straightforward and less time consuming. The
questionnaire session was administered at break time in high school and all the respondents
were given enough time to answer all the questions without any pressure. Furthermore, we
translated the questionnaire to some students to make questions very clear to them.

The questionnaire specifically focused on the importance of English Language usage and
learning. Here, the respondents were required to choose the most appropriate response. The
respondents were asked about the choice of reading materials and the classroom situation that
encourages or discourages them to study and use English. This is related to attitude because in
general if the respondents show a positive attitude, their responses will be positive. This is
useful to answer the research question which is about the respondents’ attitude towards their
use and learning of English.

3.3.2- Interviews:

First of all, there are many types of interviews which include structured interviews, semi
structured interviews, unstructured interviews and non-directive interviews. In this study, an
unstructured interview is used. This type of interview is non-directed and is flexible where it
is more casual. We have taken in the interviews tow things into consideration; firstly, we
asked teachers who have experience in English language teaching; one of them was teaching
in private and the other in public school. This is useful to distinguish between the two i.e.
schools. Secondly, we posed questions which are related directly to the research question
which is the attitude of high schools students toward English language learning. Only two
respondents were selected due to time constraint and their willingness to be interviewed as not
everyone was comfortable to give the required details. In addition to that the interviews were
not recorded because it was found that the respondents were busy to answer the questions
freely.

3.4. Data gathering procedures:

We collected data by using the designed questionnaires for the study in addition to the
interviews as discussed in 3.3.

3.4.1- Questionnaires:

The same procedure that was followed in 3.3 shown in the table of contents regarding the
questionnaire collection will be implemented here.

16
 3.4.2- Interviews:

The same procedure that was followed in 3.3 shown in the table of contents regarding the
interview collection will be implemented here.

3.5. Analysis of Data:

One key instrument utilized in this research is statistical analysis. Statistics plays a vital
role in every field of science such as business, industry, and natural and social sciences,
including biology, physics, chemistry, mathematics, meteorology. Additionally, statistics is
essential in the political context; major governmental policies are based on statistics.
Statistical methods are commonly used to describe and analyze experimental results, as well
as for testing and drawing conclusions.

In this research, descriptive statistics and statistical inference are used. The two terms are
defined as:

-Descriptive statistics: used to describe the basic features of data in a study. They provide
simple summaries, graphs, and tables about the sample and the measures. We used descriptive
statistics in order to analyze the sample that was chosen and to retrieve a percentage among
the participants who answered the research question. This information was displayed through
the use of graphs and charts. Furthermore, it was used as a tool of understanding the results
that were gathered in a much simpler and visual way.

-Statistical inference: the process of drawing conclusions about a population under

consideration by examining a sample. This was used to find the correlation between variables
and to determine whether the result is positive or negative. If the result was positive, the
relation between two variables is increasing at the same time. On the other hand, if the
correlation is negative, this indicates that the relation between two variables is decreasing at
the same time.

3.6 Conclusion:

To conclude, this chapter described the research methods used in this study. This includes
the respondents, the instruments used, the data collection procedures and the manner in which
the data were analyzed.

17
 CHAPTER FOUR
Data presentation and analysis

4.1 Personal Variables:

Gender

30

25 female; 13
Titre de l'axe

20

15

10 male; 17

0
Figure 1: The number of respondents who participated in the study:

In the above chart, the emphasis is on gender in which the number of all respondents is
seventeen male students and thirteen female students who responded to the questionnaires.

FEMALE MALE
43.33% 56.66%

Gender chart
15 16 17 18 19

11
10

4
3
2

Figure 2: Number of the students and their age:

18
Figure 2 shows the number of the students and their age. Two male and female students who
have 15 years old, ten male and female students whose age is 16 years old and eleven students
represent those who have the age of seventeen, those who have eighteen years are three
students and finally four students whose age is nineteen.

4.2 Questionnaire analysis:

The types used to answer the questionnaire of this research are:

-Yes No questions

- multi ple choice questions

This questionnaire is a survey on the attitudes towards English language learning and
language use among Moroccan high school students. It analyses the attitude of 30 students
aged between 15to19 years old .Results, as will be discussed below, show different attitudes
of the high-school students on English language learning.

FIGURE 1

what is your level in English?

Biginner Intermediate Advanced

17%
30%

53%

We can notice that the highest percentage of students 53% have intermediate level in
English .Then followed by Beginners who take 30% .Finally, what is astonishing is to have
advanced students in Moroccan high school who reach 17% .

19
 FIGURE 2

why do you learn English?

it is in the program you need it you like it

17%

56% 27%

The main purpose of this sub item is to explore the reasons that push students to learn
English as a second foreign language. As it is shown above the vast majority of students,
represent 56%, are learning English because they like it .27 % of students are learning English
because they need it in their life one of the students has told me that he wanted to finish his
studies abroad .The last reason which pushes students to learn English is that, unfortunately
they are learning it because it exists in the program; the percentage of the rest reason is 17%.

FIGURE 3

Do your parents encourage you to learn

English language?

47% Yes
53% No

20
 An important element in this questionnaire is included so that the research has to cover
other proponents of the scope of education in our society .The data shows that 53 % of parents
are encouraging their children to learn English language whereas 47% do not encourage them.

FIGURE 4

Do you like foreign languages in general?

No
20%

Yes
80%

From the results obtained we can observe that the majority of students like foreign
languages .Those students reach 80 % .In the other side 20 % of students do not like foreign
languages.

FIGURE 5

Do you like learning English more than

French?

YES NO

13%

87%

21
 From the question above, we see that 87% of students (males and females) like to learn
English more than French. This shows that few students about 13% do not like learning
English compared to French. In other words, the majority of students prefer to learn English
for several reasons. Hence, we tend to ask them why they prefer to learn English rather than
French. The reasons will be shown in the next Figure.

FIGURE 6

Why do you prefer English ?

18
16
14
12
10
8
6
4
2
0
YES, because it is an YES, because it is easy Other reaseons
international language than other languages

If yes, why do you prefer English?

Consistent with the previous question, we get from students who do like English learning
different reasons why they prefer English learning more than French. According to the results
of the questionnaire, the majority of students which is to be the first team said that English is
an international language. Other students say that English is easier than other languages. The
other students say that there are other reasons why they preferred to learn English. So we
notice that students have different perspective toward English language learning. English is
considered as an international language because it is the language of travel. English is also the
most language used in the internet. Furthermore, it is an international language because of its
simplicity to learn.

22
 FIGURE 7

Which language is easier English or

French?
17%

English French

83%

Another question we asked was “which language is easy English or French?”. This is to
discover the impact of foreign language in our country. Furthermore, this question was to
determine the type of language used in the classroom as an easy-to-learn language for
students. The answer for this question according to many students was English which is the
easiest to learn rather than French language. Although French is being taught starting from
primary school, many students still have many difficulties. Hence, the ministry of education
should take this dilemma into consideration.

FIGURE 8

Does your experience with French have an

impact on your encounter with English?

30%
YES NO
70% 30%

23
After asking participants about their experience with French, we found that as it is shown in
figure number 4, about 70% of students show that French helps them to learn English. This is
according to what we have got in the questionnaire. In addition, French is seen as mediation
to acquire or to understand certain words which are similar to English, in this case the only
difference between some English and French vocabulary is the way of pronunciation. Here
are a few words that end with the suffix “-tion” which are commonly used in French and in
English: Information, attention, communication, transformation, justification, action, etc. So,
students may use such vocabulary either in French or English. Thus, they benefit from their
experience with the French language whereas 30% of the participants unfortunately didn’t
benefit from their experience with French to learn English for unknown reasons.

FIGURE 9

Have you had a teacher that influenced your

attitudes towards English language?

no
23%

yes
77%

As we notice in the chart above the majority of students’ males and females had been
influenced their attitude towards English language by a teacher. 77% of this pattern had said
yes. That’s why we asked them if they were influenced positively or negatively. And the
result was that the 23 person who said that they were influenced by a teacher approve with
agreement that the influence was positively.

POSITIVELY 23
NEGATIVELY 0

It seems to us that English teachers had a great role in attracting students to be interested to
this language.

24
 FIGIURE 10

What is more important in English learning

according to you?

60%

3,33% 26,66%
3,33%
6,66%
Speaking
writing
reading
listening
all of them

As it is shown in this figure students are considering speaking skills as the most important
skills in English learning. In contrast writing, reading, and listening skills did not pass 13.32%
together. Which show that high school students do not gave importance to these three
techniques, but we see that 26.66% of students had said that speaking, writing, reading, and
listening are all important in learning English language learning.

FIGURE 11

Do you improve your English everyday?

43% Yes
No
57%

25
In this figure we tried to discover if high school students are improving their English language
everyday. Generally, this question aimed to know how many of high school students are
doing individual efforts to improve their English outside of school.

The results were approximate, based on 30 students, 17 students said yes and the rest said no.
For that we asked those who said yes how they are improving their level in English language.

FIGURE 12

which technique do you use more to improve

your English?
Watching English movies Listening to English music Reading English stories Others

6% 12%

53%
29%

Watching English Listening English Reading English Other techniques

movies music stories
9 5 1 2

As it shown, more than half of respondents are going with the first choice “Watching English
movies” exactly 53%, that’s because most Moroccan young people are interested to
Hollywood movies even those who don’t speak English. Also they can find these movies
easily in satellite channels or internet. “Listening English music” is another way by which
Moroccan high school students try to improve their level in English, and it seems to us that
the reason why they are using this technique is that their age is be tween15-20 years old, and it
is known that this age group are interested to music so much than other age groups, especially
universal music which is in English language of course.

Finally we see that students are not reading so much because there is just 1 student who said
to us that she/he reads to improve English. And unfortunately just 12% who said that they
improve their English by using other techniques.

26
 FIGURE 13

Which attitude do you have towards learning

English?
Positive Negative Indifferent

0%
17%

83%

Attitude is determined by the individual’s beliefs about outcomes or attributes of performing

the behavior. The students here have different attitudes about learning English, as we see here
about 83% of students have a positive attitude and about 17% ha ve an indifferent attitude,
while there is no negative attitude towards learning English.

FIGURE 14

What attitudes do your parents have towards

English language?

37%
Positive
53%
Negative
10% Indifferent

Here according to the study that we did we see that parents have also different attitudes
towards learning English, because more than 53% of parents have a positive attitude, and
about 10% of them have a negative attitude, and more than 36% have a indifferent attitude. So
we conclude that parents attitude towards learning English language is more positive.

27
 FIRURE 15

Do you worry about making mistakes while

speaking in your classroom?

13% 27%
Not at all
Little
60%
Strongly

Making mistakes is actually a natural thing that students can face while learning English
language. And we tried to ask student this question, and we had a result that 60% of high
school students are making mistakes but not so much and about 27% of students who said that
they do not make mistakes at all. Finally just 4 students on 30 students that we had ask them
this question had said that they do mistakes strongly.

FIGURE 16

Do you want to study English at the university?

37% Yes
63% No

We see that there are more than 60% of students who want to study English language at
university. And we think that most of high school students choose to study English after
graduating in high school because ENGLISH is one of the most spoken languages in the
world. Also an increasing number of people opt, more and more, for learning it overseas
aiming to expand their culture, job opportunities, and life experience.

28
 4.3 Interview analysis:

This paper includes an interview with high school teachers in order to determine the
attitudes of high school students towards English language and if there is any difference in
their points of view about the scope. As it is known there are tow kinds of schools in the
educational system of this country “private and public schools” and each one of them has its
characteristics that differentiate it from the other. That is why we did an interview with tow
different teachers, the first one has been teaching at public school for three years and the
second one has two years of experience of teaching in a private school.
We decided to ask them three questions:

1-What do you think about the level of Moroccan high school students in English?

The main purpose behind posing this question is to know the impression of high school
teachers toward the level of their students. Fortunately both of them believe that generally
student’s level is good because they achieve a very high level concerning fluency and
accuracy in a very short period which means three years or less. Therefore, this point can
encourage the society to support teaching English in our high schools. And why not English
language turns to be the new first foreign language in Morocco instead of French.

2-Do you think that textbooks in Moroccan high school are sufficient?

One of the very important element in teaching is textbooks, thus we have to ask if they are
good or not and it is necessarily to have a full knowledge about the textbooks that are adopted
in our high schools. Our teachers agreed that the textbooks are not sufficient as they have to
be. Unfortunately some of them are designed professionally but in the other side some are not
quite good. As a result, most of teachers are obliged to design activities themselves. They may
sometimes make handouts for the whole units due to the insufficient materials in the
suggested textbooks.

3-How do you motivate your students?

There are many theories that shade light on this fundamental element which is motivation
such as (Pavlov theory and Skinner theory… etc)

Motivation has to be present in daily life of people, especially parents in relation with their
children at home and teachers with their students at the classroom. We would like to
investigate the degree of teachers’ motivation in their classroom and the means that use in
order to motivate their students.

The answers were totally different. The private teacher claims that the best way to motivate
students is to push them to read because he think that promoting the reading skills of students
is the right path to achieve accuracy of this language whereas the other one has his own way
to motivate his students; which is that he relies on the first session every year to motivate
them and raise their interests then make them aware of the importance of learning English
how their future will be like in case they master it and go beyond their limits. In addition to
that he motivates them by making them believe that they are not only preparing right now for
their future but also preparing for the future of their children.

29
 CHAPTER FIVE
Discussion, limitations, and Conclusion

5.1 Discussion:

Being influenced by such factors as gender, field and year of study, and environment, a
strong relationship between attitude and learning has been reported in the literature. This
study set out with the aim of investigating attitudes of male and female high school st udents
of “IBNOU MAJA” public high school, hypothesizing that there is a significant difference
between the two groups. Qualitative analysis of this study showed that the participants, both
males and females, have positive emotional, behavioral, and cognitive attitudes toward
learning English. Also it seems that more than half of high school students were agreed that
they are intermediate in English language. Another important finding was that both male and
female students are significantly like English language more than French which is the first
foreign language in our country; and this is a result of the comparison that the students make
between these two languages therefore, they find English much easier and this is one of the
main reasons why Moroccan high school students have a positive attitude towards English
language. Although that the students prefer English than French, two thirds of them think that
French had an impact on their encounter with English. Another important factor that made
almost all of the Moroccan high school had a positive impact with English language is the
“TEACHER”; English teacher had been always a source of influence students to be interested
with this language, overall we think that this is a result of the high aptitude of English
teachers in Morocco. Apparently the study showed that more than half of high school students
are doing their best to improve their English daily by watching English movies, listening
English, reading English stories etc… All in all the majority of Moroccan high school
students are interested to English language and more than that, we discovered that 63% of
them want to join the English department at the university.

For the parents the result of the questionnaire showed that their impact towa rds learning
English language is between generally positive and neutral but at the same time hardly more
than a half of them are encouraging their students to learn English. And here it seems that
parents also have a role at influencing their children to be interested by this language.

5.2 Implications:

*Teacher can make a valuable contribution in developing friendly relationship with

their students, in order to develop a positive attitude towards learning English language.

*Positive classroom atmosphere needed for learning language, and the mistakes
considered as a natural part of the process of learning English language.

*Teachers should motivate the students to learn better English, by highlighting its
importance as they need English for getting employment purpose in the future.

30
 *Parents should always encourage learners to read materials written in English like
newspapers and magazines because according to this study students are not reading just one
student who said that he is reading stories to improve his English.

5.3 conclusions:

Based on the above on the subject of the attitude toward English language learning and
language use among high school students, clear as it is the research tried to define whether it
is positive or negative. By using different instruments answered by different respondents. So
this study proves that the respondents' obvious positive attitude towards English may lead to
conclude that they are well aware of the importance of English and learn it as a compulsory
subject.

The majority of the 30 statements of the direct attitude questionnaire deliberately show us
responses relating to the respondents' perceptions towards English through students attitudes.
Concerning the research questionnaires, the result of descriptive analysis showed that
participants have a positive attitude towards learning English.

The research shows that majority of students are interested by foreign languages generally
and English language especially.

From these findings we can see that not only does the background of the respondents
influence attitude towards the target language, but also motivation. It shows clearly that all
these factors work together. One very clear finding from this study shows that Moroccan high
school students from various social and ethnic backgrounds agree that English is an important
language.

From this study, we can see that the respondents, with more parental support, developed a
positive attitude towards language learning. It is noticed that the responde nts are very
motivated to learn English and they know that English being are important language; they
must learn it for their future.

The English language learning process is further strengthened with motivation not only
from parents, but also from the respondents themselves where they have the intrinsic
motivation towards English language learning.

The teacher has got a very big role to influence students to be interested with this language
and generally they succeed in realizing that.

31
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 Appendices:

Appendix 1: Questionnaire:

This questionnaire is meant to collect data on the following research topic “ATTITUDES
TOWARDS ENGLISH LANGUAGE LEARNING AND LANGUAGE USE AMONG
MOROCCAN HIGH SCHOOL STUDENTS.” For research purposes, please answer the
following questions as honestly as possible. Your contribution is only for research purposes. I
would highly appreciate your voluntary participation in the fulfillment of this research.
Thanks a bundle in advance!

Part one: General information

1. Gende r: a- Male b – Female

2. Age : 15 16 17 18 19 20

Part two: The questionnaire

*Pick the suitable choice:

-What is your level in English?

a) Beginner
b) Intermediate
c) Advanced

-Why do you learn English?

Because:

a) It is in the program
b) You need it
c) You like it

-Do you parents encourage you to learn English? Yes No

-Do you like foreign languages in general? Yes No

-Do you like learning English more than French? Yes No

If yes, why do you prefer English?

a) It is an international language
b) It is easy than other languages

34
 c) Other reasons

-Which language is easy French or English?

a) French
b) English

-Has your experience with the French language had an impact on your encounter with
Englis h?

Yes No

-Have you had a teacher that influenced your attitudes towards English language?

Yes No

If yes: positively Negatively

-What is more important in English learning according to you?

a) Speaking

b) Writing

c) Listening

d) All of the above

-Do you improve your English everyday? Yes No

If yes, which technique do you use more to improve it?

a) Watching English movies

b) Listening to English music
c) Reading English stories
d) Other

-Which attitude do you have towards learning Englis h?

a) Positive
b) Negative
c) Indifferent

-What attitudes do your parents towards English language?

a) Positive
b) Negative
c) Indifferent

-Do you worry about making mistakes while speaking in your classroom?

35
 a) Not at all
b) Little
c) Strongly

-Do you want to study English at the university?

a) Yes
b) No

Thanks a million for you cooperation!

Appendix 2: Interview Questions:

1-What do you think about the level of Moroccan high school students in English?

………………………………………………………………………………………
…………………………………………………………………………………………………
…………………………………………………………………………………………………
……………...................................................................................................................................
.....

2-Do you think that textbooks in Moroccan high school are sufficient?

………………………………………………………………………………………
…………………………………………………………………………………………………
…………………………………………………………………………………………………
……………...................................................................................................................................
.....

3-How do you motivate your students?

………………………………………………………………………………………
…………………………………………………………………………………………………
…………………………………………………………………………………………………
……………...................................................................................................................................
.....

36
37