Attitudes of ninth graders in a rural middle school in Yauco, Puerto Rico toward the English language and the English class

Abstract

The study examines the attitudes of ninth graders in a rural middle school in Yauco, Puerto Rico toward the English language and toward the English class. It also examines gender differences toward the English language and toward the English class. Four methods were used in this study: ethnographic participant-observation, questionnaires, tape-recorded oral interviews, and matched guise tests. The results shows: 1) the students had negative attitudes toward English as a medium of instruction and as a subject of study, 2) the students had positive attitudes toward English, particularly for instrumental reasons related to life goals and occupational ambitions, 3) the students had positive attitudes toward the English class, and 4) the boys had less positive attitudes toward the English language and toward the English class than girls. Finally, students on four different tracks did not have uniform attitudes toward the English language and toward the English class.