Annals of Philosophy, Social and Human Disciplines (Jul 2018)
English language students’ beliefs about language learning. The case of “Aleksander Moisiu” University
Abstract
Students’ beliefs about language learning are an important component which will definitely have an impact in their future as teachers. The beliefs students hold and the way they are formed have been at the center of many studies. This article, however, reports the findings of a quantitative study related to English language students’ beliefs about English language learning. The students surveyed had just finished the third semester of their school practice and the instrument used to collect the data was Horwitz’s Beliefs about Language Learning Inventory – (BALLI, 1987). It included 35 items which covered a wide range of categories such as: language aptitude, nature of language learning, learning and communication strategies, difficulty of the language and last but not the least Motivation. Apart from the beliefs, through the questionnaire we attempted to investigate if students had had other teaching experiences apart from their school practice and if there were teachers among their family members. At the end we tried to find out if these two variables had any effect on students’ beliefs about English language learning. Recommendations for further research and implications of the findings are also part of the article.
