The Motivations of Learning Foreign Languages: A Descriptive Case Study of Polyglots

Abstract

Polyglots are extraordinary people in terms of language ability. Therefore, it is interesting to academically explore their motivations for learning several languages. This research is novel compared to previous studies because scant extant research exists of polyglots’ motivation for learning several languages. To this end, researchers collected data from semi structured interviews obtained from five informants. The method that we used was a descriptive case study. Findings showed that the polyglots’ motivation for learning multiple foreign languages were (a) pleasure, (b) social intercourse, (c) professional purposes, and (d) academic purposes. Mostly, the previous research revealed that motivation for people learning foreign languages were for social interaction, professional reasons, and academic purposes. Meanwhile, the motivation of polyglots for learning many languages besides those three motivations was for pleasure. This is the key point behind their commitment to sustainable multiple language learning.