Browsing by Subject "Beliefs about language learning"

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Beliefs about grammar instruction among post-secondary second-language learners and teachers
(2018-06-19) Lorenz, Alexander, Ph. D.; Urlaub, Per K.; Boas, Hans Christian, 1971-; Arens, Katherine; Horwitz, Elaine; Pierce, Marc
This dissertation aims to identify student and teacher beliefs about grammar instruction, grammar learning, and the importance of grammatical accuracy and corrective feedback in the context of three foreign language programs at an R1 university in the United States. This study both investigates student and teacher views on grammar instruction at various levels of lower-division language programs and compares student and teacher beliefs about their own grammatical competencies and the importance of grammatical accuracy in their second language (L2). Despite the overwhelming consensus among second language acquisition (SLA) researchers that deductive and inductive grammar instruction, also referred to as form-focused instruction (FFI), have positive effects on language acquisition, it is critical to investigate teacher and student perceptions of contemporary approaches to developing grammatical competencies in a second language. The systematic investigation of teacher and student beliefs about grammar instruction generates important implications for language instruction, curriculum, teacher training, and material development. One such implication is the practical applicability of the methods used to inquire into beliefs about grammar instruction in the L2 classroom. Using such classroom-based data collection methods can help limit conflicting views between L2 learners and their teachers. The results of this descriptive study not only help identify effective classroom practices for scholars and educators, but also inform the decision-making processes of language curriculum developers and textbook authors regarding, for instance, the use of inductive and deductive exercises to teach grammar in the L2 classroom.
Don’t forget about us : African-American collegiate students’ newfound perspectives on foreign language motivation, foreign language anxiety, and their beliefs about foreign language learning
(2013-12) Gatlin, Nicholas Sherrod; Horwitz, Elaine Kolker, 1950-
This study investigates African-American college students’ beliefs about foreign language learning, foreign language anxiety, motivations for language learning, and the extent to which the racial composition of a campus environment plays a role in those factors. 571 students across four universities completed three survey instruments: modified versions of the Beliefs About Language Learning Inventory (Horwitz, 1986), the Academic Motivation Scale (Vallerand et al., 1992) respectively, the Foreign Language Classroom Academic Scale (Horwitz et al., 1986), and three open-ended questions on being African-American and learning a foreign language. Findings noted that one of three motivation factors for language learning was significantly different for campus environment. Post-hoc analyses indicated that participants at HBCUs were less likely to be the least motivated by short-term extrinsic goals for learning a foreign language than those at a PWI. African-American participants reported higher levels of foreign language anxiety than mixed groups of participants in previous studies and there were no significant differences in foreign language anxiety regarding campus environment and gender; but, there were significant differences for academic classification and the individual universities. Two of three motivation factors correlated with foreign language anxiety. Long Term Intrinsic: Discovery and Satisfaction—had a positive relationship with anxiety only at Predominantly White Institutions (PWI), whereas, Short Term Extrinsic: Minimal Investment had a negative relationship with foreign language anxiety at both PWIs and HBCUs, This factor also had the highest relationship with anxiety. The beliefs analysis indicated that African-American college students across campus environments displayed more similarities in their beliefs about foreign language learning than differences. Findings also noted few differences when compared to prior studies with other language learner groups. The belief category “African-American Expectations,” noted that African-Americans strongly believe that they are capable of learning a foreign language, and that learning a foreign language would benefit them in the future. The open-ended questions provided a wide range of perspectives to several of the beliefs about language learning, as well as motivation and anxiety from African-American college students. One major theme that emerged from the analysis focused on pressures African-American students face in the foreign language classroom.
Language learning strategies and beliefs about language learning of university students learning English in Korea
(1995) Park, Gi-pyo, 1964-; Horwitz, Elaine Kolker, 1950-; Garza, Thomas J.
This study identifies Korean university students' use of language learning strategies and their beliefs about language learning, followed by an investigation of the relationships among their beliefs, strategy use, and L2 proficiency. The students' use of learning strategies and their beliefs were identified by the factor analytic findings of two self-report questionnaires, the Strategy Inventory for Language Learning (SILL, ESL/EFL Student Version) and the Beliefs about Language Learning Inventory (BALLI, ESL Student Version), and L2 proficiency was determined by the Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL). The subjects were 332 students attending two universities in Korea. Four underlying factors were discovered in the SILL: independent and interactive practice strategies, metacognitive strategies, communication-affective strategies, and memory strategies. The Korean university students in this study used more metacognitive and memory strategies than communication-affective and independent and interactive practice strategies. Four underlying factors were found in the BALLI as well: motivational beliefs and beliefs about formal English, self-efficacy and beliefs about social interaction, beliefs about learning spoken English, and beliefs about foreign language aptitude. The results of Pearson correlations among the four belief variables (factors of the BALLI), the four strategy variables (factors of the SILL), and a proficiency variable (the TOEFL scores) show that the students' beliefs, learning strategy use, and L2 proficiency are generally related. However, these relationships depend on specific types of beliefs and learning strategies. A multiple regression analysis with the TOEFL scores as a criterion variable and eight belief and strategy variables as predictor variables indicates that belief and strategy variables share a total variance of 16% with the TOEFL scores. Considering that the theoretical foundation of language learning strategies and beliefs about language learning comes from cognitive psychology, specifically information-processing theory, one of the findings of this study--the roles of language learning strategies and beliefs about language learning in adult L2 proficiency--provides evidence that adult L2 acquisition may be the result of information-processing