Beliefs about Language Learning of Foreign Language- Major University Students

Beliefs are a central construct in every discipline which deals with human behavior and learning. Teachers’ beliefs influence their consciousness, teaching attitude, teaching methods and teaching policies. Teachers’ beliefs also strongly influence teaching behavior and, finally, learners’ development. The formation of teachers’ educational beliefs in language teaching/learning process will exert an indiscernible effect on forming effective teaching methods and will bring about the improvement of learners’ language learning abilities (Horwitz, 1985). The Beliefs About Language Learning Inventory (BALLI) was administered to a total of 248 foreign languagemajor university students at five universities. The participants were in the departments of English, German, French, Japanese and Arabic and they were all going to be the teachers of the language they were learning. Although most of the item alternatives drew slightly different percentages of responses, the overall pattern of responses remained strikingly consistent across language groups. The present findings indicate that students hold a range of beliefs with varying degrees of validity; in some cases, the term “myth” might be a more accurate characterization. Some results reported here may surprise language teaching educators and teacher trainers; others probably confirm their experiences and intuitions. INTRODUCTION During the last two decades, second language learning researchers have spent a lot of effort on the cognitive aspects of language learning. Research indicates that individual students differ considerably in their use of learning strategies (Altan, 2003; O’Malley Chamot, 1990; Oxford, 1992,1993; Oxford & Cohen, 1992; Wenden & Rubin, 1987). An important question is what causes students to approach a specific language task differently. What accounts for the individual differences observed even among learners with similar language proficiency? A reasonable answer may be found in learner perception. Since we are what we believe in, in recent years, researchers have increasingly focused on students’ beliefs about the nature of language learning and the strategies they use. Studies on language learning beliefs began with early research in individual differences between successful and less successful learners (Fillmore, Kempler, & Wong-Fillmore, 1979; Naiman, Frochlich, Stern, & Todesco, 1978; Nation & McLaughlin, 1986; Rubin, 1975, 1981). On the one hand, people all over the world seem to have common and fixed beliefs about how languages are learned. Every month it is possible to see an article or just some news on the best techniques for learning a foreign language, the right age to begin learning a foreign language, and the nature of the foreign language learning process, especially during summer. In some news it is even admitted that language fluency can be obtained with very little effort in as little as three months of freetime study! On the other hand, there is another group of people who believe that acquiring another language is a special “gift” that some people have and that most people do not have. If beliefs about foreign language learning are widespread in one culture, then foreign language teachers must consider that learners bring these beliefs with them into the classroom and therefore, teachers should spend some time helping learners getting rid of these misconceptions in order to be more effective language learners. This consideration becomes more important especially for the foreign language teacher educators. Teacher educators should train their student teachers aware of these misconceptions and prepare them ready to solve the possible problems in their future teaching. Some of these misconceptions should be taken very seriously for those educating foreign language teachers. Many people think that children are biologically programmed to learn second languages quickly and easily. Current research challenges this biological imperative, arguing that different rates of L2 acquisition may reflect psychological and social factors that Australian Journal of Teacher Education 46 Vol 31, No 2, 2006 favor child learners (Newport, 1990). One exception is pronunciation. The younger the child, the more skilled the child is in acquiring L2. Some researchers argue that the earlier children begin to learn a second language, the better (e.g., Krashen, Long, & Scarcella, 1979). However, research does not support this conclusion in school settings especially where emphasis has traditionally been placed on formal grammatical analysis. Older children are more skilled in dealing with this approach and therefore, might perform better. However, this argument does not explain findings from students of French immersion programs in Canada, where little emphasis is placed on the formal aspects of grammar (Genesee, 1987). As pointed out earlier, pronunciation is one area where the younger is better. The more time students spend in a second language context, the more quickly they learn the language. Many educators believe children will learn English best through structured immersion, where they have ESL classes and content-based instruction in English. These programs provide more time on task in English than bilingual classes. Research, however, indicates that this increased exposure to English does not necessarily speed the acquisition of English. Over the length of the program, children acquire English language skills equivalent to those acquired by children who have been in English-only programs (Cummins, 1981). Children have acquired L2 once they can speak it. Some teachers assume that children who can converse comfortably in English are in full control of the language. Yet for school-aged children, proficiency in faceto-face communication does not imply proficiency in the more complex academic language needed to engage in many classroom activities. Research on 1,210 immigrant children in Canada showed that children required much longer mastering the disembedded cognitive language required for the regular English curriculum than to master oral communicative skills (Cummins, 1980). All children learn L2 in the same way. People and some teachers think that all children learn L2 in the same way or at the same rate. Although student beliefs about language learning would seem to have obvious relevance to the understanding of student expectations of, commitment to, success in, and satisfaction with their language classes, they have remained relatively unexplored. Especially with those who will be teachers of the languages they have been learning. Holec (1981:27) argues that language learners must go through a sort of psychological preparation or “deconditioning” to rid themselves of preconceived notions and prejudices which would be likely to interfere with their language learning process. Holec (1987:145) lists some typical learner comments as “1. Learning a language is hard work; 2. For a Frenchman, learning Italian is easier than learning Japanese; 3. Spelling is one of the major difficulties when learning French”. LITERATURE REVIEW Research on the beliefs about language learning since Horwitz’s pioneering study in 1985 has shown that some of these beliefs held by learners have damaging effects on their learning. However, there is still a great shortage of research that investigates the beliefs of learners and especially on those who are foreign-language major students. Recent research on the beliefs of second and foreign language learners’ beliefs has examined different learning settings in different cultures; Wenden (1986); Horwitz (1988); Oh (1996), Wen and Johnson(1997); Benson and Lor (1999). These research studies have collected and analyzed data on learners’ beliefs in different ways and they were mainly done with those learning foreign languages. However, very few empirical studies have researched in-service teacher beliefs about language learning. Peacock (2001) reports on a longitudinal study that investigated changes in the beliefs about second language learning of 146 trainee ESL students over their 3-year program at the City University of Hong Kong. Although he reports differences in three key areas, disturbingly, no significant changes have been found. These key areas are: learning a second language means learning a lot of vocabulary and grammar rules and the belief that those speaking more than one language well are very intelligent. Peacock (2001) concludes that these participants when preparing their classroom tasks, materials, etc. might over-emphasize the learning of vocabulary and grammar rules compared to the other classroom tasks necessary for foreign Australian Journal of Teacher Education Vol 31 No 2, 2006 47 language learning. And believing that those speaking more than one language are very intelligent might negatively affect their capacity to assess their future students’ progress. Data on language-learners’ beliefs have been collected through closed (forcedchoice) questionnaires. Questionnaires on learners’ beliefs have been developed and analyzed in two ways. The first involves grouping items a priori into Logically-derived categories, with the analysis of data focusing on similarities and differences in response patterns to items within a category. This is the approach used by Horwitzt’s “Beliefs About Language Learning Inventory” (BALLI). LANGUAGE LEARNING INVENTORY The survey used in this study, The Beliefs About Language Learning Inventory (BALLI) was developed by Horwitz 1983 to assess student opinions on a variety of issues and controversies related to language learning. The BALLI contains thirty-four items and assesses student beliefs in five major areas: 1. difficulty of language learning; 2. foreign language aptitude; 3. the nature of language learning; 4. learning and communication strategies; and 5. motivations and expectations. Subjects are asked to read each item and then to indicate a response ranging from strongly agre