Samenvatting

International schools become more popular in many countries around the world which means that an increasing number of students grow up bilingually, speaking one language in school and another language at home. This study focusses on one group of students that this applies to; German national students who attend an international school in Germany. The aim of this research is to investigate whether being taught in a language other than their native language affects the students’ reading motivation in their native language. The field research was carried out in a fourth-grade class in an international school in Germany, the research tools applied were interviews with students, their German teacher, and the school’s librarian, a
questionnaire that was sent out to the students’ parents, and a reading comprehension task that was conducted with the German native students to test their reading comprehension in German. The results from the data analysis as well as the literature review show that in general, students are likely to prefer reading in the language that is easier for them to understand. Therefore, being taught in a language that is not the students’ native language does not seem to affect their reading motivation in the native language. 42% of the students stated that they prefer reading in German over reading in English, while 29% stated that they equally enjoy reading in both languages. The findings from this study suggest that students’ reading motivation depends on other factors, such as support by the parents,
especially in the early childhood, and being in charge of their own reading.