The two pie charts illustrate survey data from foreign language instructors in Britain behind students’ decisions to learn a foreign language. The first chart shows the primary driving forces for language learning, whereas the second depicts the teachers’ perceptions of recent changes in these motivations.
Overall, travel is clearly the dominant motive for language acquisition. Concurrently, regarding recent shifts, purchasing property abroad is the most prevalent drive reason for changing to another foreign language, which can be observed by teachers.
According to the first chart, approximately one-third of surveyed teachers report that travel is the principal catalyst for learners pursuing a foreign language. Business/work and purchasing property overseas also constitute substantial factors, accounting for 26% and 19% respectively. Conversely, the remaining motivations are all relatively marginal, with social contact and personal development each accounting for 7%, closely followed by general interest and foreign partner, neither of which exceeds 5%.
In terms of recent changes, the highest percentage of teachers (34%) reported a recent increase in students learning to buy property overseas, which is exactly equal to the combined total of business/work and social contact. Meanwhile, 6% of teachers observe a rise in general interest, which is double the percentage recorded for travel. The growth rates for having a foreign partner and personal development sit at a modest 4% each, while 15% of teachers perceive that there has been no discernible change overall.