This study examines the attitudes to language and the language learning motivation of Italian students of modern foreign languages. Alongside the students’ motives for language learning, the focus is on their assessment of the current and future role of German in comparison to other languages and their hypotheses about current numbers of speakers. The indicators of attitudes and motivation were recorded in a longitudinal comparison, which allows a comparison of the responses received in 2007/8 and 2013 from a total of approximately 800 students at the University of Bologna, thus providing an insight into the subjective perception of the role of German in the last seven years.
