Changes in Attitude Toward Learning Hebrew in a South African Setting

This study investigated attitudes toward second‐language learning over an extended period of time in a cross‐sectional design. Subjects were 1,252 children in Grades 4 through 12 studying Hebrew in a private Jewish school system in South Africa. Five sets of attitudes were measured: attitudes toward learning the language, traditional orientation, nationalist orientation, motivation, and self‐rating of proficiency. Results showed that attitudes decreased in positive value over the nine grade levels, although not always in totally linear fashion, supporting other research findings. The sharpest changes took place from Grades 4 through 9 while a less consistent pattern characterizes the high‐school years. The rate of decline was not equal for all attitude sets suggesting the need for different explanations to account for the variety of attitude patterns.