Languages for the Future: Exploring TU Dublin's students’ perceptions, motivations, and barriers to foreign language learning

The Languages for the Future study, conducted at TU Dublin in response to a national research call issued by Post-Primary Languages Ireland, examines TU Dublin students’ attitudes toward, and access to, foreign language learning in higher education, with the aim of addressing gaps in national evidence on foreign language learning uptake and motivation, and informing future policy beyond Languages Connect 2017–2026.
Based on a cross-sectional online survey of 650 students across TU Dublin’s three campuses, the findings show that the student body is highly multilingual and uses languages other than Irish or English in everyday family, community, and digital contexts. This reflects a diverse and globalised student population that already possesses strong linguistic resources and a solid foundation for further language development.
The data reveal consistently high levels of interest in learning languages, with most students expressing positive attitudes and recognising their value for career advancement, international mobility, personal development, and intercultural engagement. Motivations are both practical and aspirational, with employability and global opportunities emerging as the strongest drivers, supported by curiosity about other cultures and the desire for self-improvement. Students broadly support the inclusion of language learning opportunities within their degrees, although they show a clear preference for flexible, elective models and for blended delivery formats rather than mandatory or fully online provision.
Despite this, the study also highlights significant barriers. This strong interest does not translate into participation due to a combination of personal and institutional constraints. Personal barriers include lack of time due to academic workload, perceptions of difficulty, lack of confidence, and negative prior experiences of language learning, yet these rarely reflect outright rejection of languages. Instead, they coexist with high levels of motivation, indicating that they limit engagement rather than suppress it. More critically, institutional barriers emerge as the primary constraint: over half of respondents report that their programmes do not offer any foreign language option, while timetable limitations further restrict access where provision exists. These structural limitations affect students who are already highly motivated, pointing to a clear mismatch between student demand and institutional opportunity.
Overall, the study shows that student interest is not the main issue. The university is therefore well positioned to increase participation by expanding flexible and elective language offerings, embedding opportunities across disciplines, and aligning provision with students’ academic pathways and career aspirations. This can be done with support and participation of all stakeholders. Addressing structural barriers, rather than attempting to generate demand, is identified as the key to unlocking existing student motivation and supporting broader national goals for multilingual competence.