Abstract
<p>In bilingual schools where the target language functions simultaneously as curricular medium, institutional identity, and gateway to international opportunity, student motivation has a distinctive structure that standard L2 motivation frameworks only partially capture. This pilot study examines motivational change following participation in a Biennial Educational Fair —an international event involving universities, a dual vocational training system, and alumni— among upper secondary students (ages 15–17, n = 68) at a German-tradition bilingual school abroad. Using a PRE/POST anonymous paired design with Wilcoxon signed-rank tests and Holm-Bonferroni correction, significant changes were recorded across three motivational dimensions: language motivation (D1: Mdn PRE = 3.00, Mdn POST = 3.50, r = .36, p = .003); vocational and life-project motivation (D2: Mdn PRE = 2.80, Mdn POST = 3.10, r = .38, p = .003); and perceived meaningfulness of school learning (D3: Mdn PRE = 1.75, Mdn POST = 3.25, r = .85, p &lt; .001). The central finding — unanticipated by either working hypothesis — is that the largest change was observed in D3, with one item recording a shift from median 1.0 to 4.0 (r = .83). Within D1, change was driven exclusively by the item 'my German level opens concrete doors' (r = .61, p &lt; .001), while items related to intrinsic language enjoyment showed no significant change. These results suggest that the Fair did not function primarily as a vocational or linguistic stimulus, but as a meaning-making event: it connected everyday school effort with real and visible consequences. Implications for the design of extracurricular experiences in a context of adolescent disengagement are discussed.</p>