Beliefs about Language Learning and Strategy Use: The Case of Iranian Non-English Majors

Abstract

Beliefs about language learning and strategy use are important factors in the complex process of learning a foreign language. Although these variables have received much attention in past research, they have rarely been investigated in a general English context in an EFL setting. The present study aims to compare the frequency and pattern of strategy use and beliefs about language learning of students of Engineering, Agricultural Sciences and Theology majors. For this purpose, the BALLI (Beliefs about Language Learning Inventory) and SILL (Strategy Inventory for Language Learning) were given to 150 students. Two other variables, i.e., self-rated proficiency and length of time attending English classes were also included. The findings demonstrated that Engineering students use significantly higher number of strategies, are more motivated and find learning English easier (P < 0.05).

Language Learning Strategy Use among Iranian Engineering EFL Learners

“…Descriptive studies define features of a good language learner (Reiss, 1985;Vann & Abraham, 1990) and the total number of strategies that learners or group of learners utilize. Intervention studies, on the other hand, deal with the process of learner training by teachers or researchers to decide whether it is feasible to bring about any change in the learners' strategy use or not (Ghabanchi & Meidani, 2012).…”

Analysing Spanish Learners’ Beliefs about EFL Learning

“…Elaine Horwitz's pioneering study (1987) generated considerable research interest in the nature of beliefs held by language learners. Since then, a multitude of research studies into the subject has been conducted in different SL/FL learning contexts (Park, 1995;Riley, 1997;Banya and Cheng, 1997;Gaies, 1998;Wenden, 1999;Sakui and Gaies, 1999;Mori, 1999;Horwitz, 1999;Benson and Lor, 1999;Yang, 1999;White, 1999;Breen, 2001;Alanen, 2003;Ferreira, 2003;Dufva, 2003;Kramsch, 2003;Kalaja, 2003;Kalaja and Ferreira, 2003;Williams et al, 2004;Dörnyei, 2005Dörnyei, , 2006Bernat and Gvozdenko, 2005;Bernat, 2004Bernat, , 2005Bernat, , 2006Gabillon, 2005;Benson and Nunan, 2005;Nikitina and Furuoka, 2007;Ellis, 2008;Loewen et al, 2009;Pazaver and Wang, 2009;Ferreira and Kalaja, 2011;Mohammad and Shokrpour, 2012;Ghabanchi and Meidani, 2012;Saleh, 2012;Maftoon and Shakouri, 2013;Yoshida, 2013;Akbari and Karimi, 2013).…”

“…One of the research areas of current interest lies in the factors that affect beliefs (e.g., individual learner differences (Siebert, 2003;Bernat, 2006) and contextual diversity (Rifkin, 2000;Kalaja and Ferreira, 2003). Specifically, recent research studies have examined learners' beliefs for their relationship to factors such as strategy use (White 1999;Horwitz, 1999;Sakui and Gaies, 1999;Yang, 1999;Ghabanchi and Meidani, 2012;Maftoon and Shakouri, 2013); anxiety (Banya and Chen, 1997;Kunt, 1998); motivation (Banya and Chen, 1997;Kim-Yoon, 2000); learner autonomy (Cotterall, 1995;Zhong, 2010); attitude (Riley, 1997;Banya and Cheng, 1997); achievement (Banya and Cheng, 1997); gender (Siebert, 2003), personality traits (Bernat, 2006); and language proficiency (Mantle-Bromley, 1995;Peackock, 1999;Tanaka and Ellis, 2003;Huang and Tsai, 2003;Akbari and Karimi, 2013).…”

Tanzanian Secondary School Learners’ Beliefs about EFL Learning, Teaching and Testing: Exploratory Account

“…From that time onwards, a lot of studies have been conducted in the subject matter in different SL/FL learning contexts (e.g. Park, 1995;Riley, 1997;Banya and Cheng, 1997;Gaies, 1998;Sakui and Gaies, 1999;Mori, 1999;Horwitz, 1999;Benson and Lor, 1999;White, 1999;Breen, 2001;Alanen, 2003;Ferreira, 2003;Dufva, 2003;Kramsch, 2003;Kalaja, 2003;Kalaja and Ferreira, 2003;Williams et al, 2004;Bernat and Gvozdenko, 2005;Bernat, 2004;Gabillon, 2005;Benson and Nunan, 2005;Nikitina and Furuoka, 2007;Ellis, 2008;Loewen et al, 2009;Pazaver and Wang, 2009;Ferreira and Kalaja, 2011;Mohammad and Shokrpour, 2012;Ghabanchi and Meidani, 2012;Saleh, 2012;Maftoon and Shakouri, 2013;Yoshida, 2013;Akbari and Karimi, 2013).…”