Why do Primary School English Teachers Decide to Teach English?

This study is an attempt to explore the nature of L2 teachers’ motivation towards English language learning and their decision to become English teachers. A total of 45 third-year prospective Primary school English teachers at the University of the Balearic Islands completed a small-scale survey adapted from Gardner's Attitude/Motivation Test Battery (AMBT) in order to investigate their main type of motivation (integrative or instrumental) (Gardner, 1985). Results show that participants are clearly integratively motivated towards English language learning. However, in line with Dornyei's ‘L2 motivational self-system’ theory (2009), results suggest a no longer clear-cut separation between integrative and instrumental motivation.