Students’ Motivations for Choosing (or Not) to Study Portuguese: A Survey of Beginning-level University Classes

Although previous literature has discussed ways of promoting the study of Portuguese, to our knowledge no study has ever directly surveyed students to ascertain why they chose to learn the language. This study reports on a survey of the motivations of first- and second-year Portuguese students to study the language, and contrasts their motivations with those of students of French, German, Italian, and Spanish. In addition, the study reports on students’ opinions as to the usefulness of Portuguese in comparison with these other European languages. Results showed that Portuguese students consisted of two separate groups, Spanish speakers and non-Spanish speakers, each with distinct motivations for language learning, which differed from those of students of other European languages. Based on the findings, we offer recommendations for the recruitment and instruction of Portuguese students at the post-secondary level, with particular emphasis on Portuguese for Spanish speakers.