Gender Differences in Motivation and Attitudes for Learning English as a Foreign Language

Several previous studies state that there are some differences in motivation and attitudes for learning English as a foreign language between female and male students (Johnson, 1996 ; Cook, 1991 ; Farhady, 1982 ; Eisenstein, 1982) . However, English learning circumstance for Japanese students could be different from those in the previous studies. In this paper, questionnaires were conducted among junior high school students and statistical tests were utilized to examine gender differences for various aspects of English learning motivation. Based on the results, present paper discusses some differences and critical factors for learning English between Japanese female and male junior high school students.