Perfil del estudiante y motivación en el aprendizaje del italiano como lengua extranjera

this paper reports on student profile characteristics and motivational data that underlies the study of the italian language in venezuela. two different groups of learners constituted the sample: 228 students from an italo-venezuelan high school and 322 students from a private language institute. the questionnaire used is based on bettoni and marchi？s (2004) instrument and on an adaptation for italian of some items from gardner？s attitude motivation test battery (ambt) (1985). through this questionnaire the following variables were explored: sex, age, education level, family origin, use of italian, activities carried out for its practice; it also included items which addressed the wish to learn the language and the level and intensity of the learners？ underlying motivation. results were analyzed based on percentages for both groups. they show a clear tendency towards the use of italian for socializing activities, essentially based on the family？s origins and/or the need to know another culture for educational or working reasons. the motivation underlying these tendencies seems to be both of an affective and instrumental nature.