This project has been funded with support from the European Commission.
229813-CP-1-2006-1 -AT-GRUNDTVIG-G1PP
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Love Language!
How to Attract Participation and Increase Motivation of Young Male Language Learners
Investigations exploring gender effects on adult foreign language learning unanimously state the fact that language uptake is imbalanced between men and women and that language courses usually have a larger proportion of female participants. After health and allied services, foreign language is the second highest female-dominant education area, the ratio between women and men in language learning being considerably varying.
In addition to this, there are significantly higher numbers of male drop outs. Analysis of reasons shows that men find language courses not interesting enough or even boring and often too much oriented towards "female subjects". In general, men frequently have automatic associations of language learning with feminine roles. Especially among young male adults, language learning is considered as not being "cool", and therefore this misconception leads to barriers on several fields: Reduced participation in a wider society, reduced access to information, reduced chances on the European labour market. The overall objective of the project is to enable young male adults with particular "foreign language learning resistance" to establish their "love for language" by increasing their interest and uptake of foreign languages and to increase their participation in the life long learning society. |  |