Identification and motivation of advanced students in a regular EFL classroom in an Estonian basic school

Abstract

The purpose of this MA thesis is to research motivation to learn English by the students who are already more advanced in the language than their classmates. In addition, factors that may have contributed to students becoming advanced are studied. Being a basic school English teacher, I have come into contact with many students who are more advanced in English than their classmates. For this reason I decided that for my MA thesis I would like to know what are the factors that have contributed to such results and what are the opportunities that the more advanced students have had for learning English compared to regular students. The research questions posed in the current thesis are as follows: How does students‟ social background influence their English skills? How do students‟ everyday habits influence their English skills? What are the motivators for regular and advanced students to learn English?