An Investigation Of Students' Language Learning Beliefs And Learning Styles In Affiliated College Of China's University

As the focus of English teaching has been shifted to the learners'individual differences, learning style and learning beliefs attract more and more researchers' attention. In the western countries, a number of studies have been carried out on the two aspects. In China, researchers have used the relevant theories and findings from the west for their studies, which is of great help for promoting English learning and teaching in China. However, almost all the researches in China are concerned with public university students. Researchers seldom conduct researches on the students in affiliated colleges, which are developing quickly in China. What's more, few researches have been carried out on the relationship between learning beliefs and learning styles. Therefore, in the thesis, the two aspects are on focused: English learning styles and learning beliefs of the students in affiliated colleges and the relationship between the two.This study is mainly a quantitative study in which the instruments are two questionnaires on language learning beliefs by Horwitz and learning styles by Reid, which were administered to 300 second-year non-English majors from Wenhua College of Huazhong University of Science and Technology. The results are analyzed with the software SPSS. Based on the analyzed results of questionnaires, the main findings are as follows:Firstly, the students hold strong beliefs in motivation, but weak beliefs in language aptitude and autonomous learning. Males and females hold different views on learning and communication strategies and motivation. Art and science students hold different views on the nature of language learning and learning and communication and strategy.Secondly, the students have multi-dimensional learning styles. They prefer kinesthetic styles most and group-oriented styles least. Males and females have similar learning styles and the learning styles of the art students and science students are similar, too.Thirdly, there is some relationship between English learning styles and learning beliefs of the students in affiliated colleges, but the relationship is not very close.On the basis of the findings, recommendations for English teachers are given: teachers should get to know learners'learning beliefs and styles and arouse their awareness of their learning beliefs and styles; teachers should link learning beliefs and styles so that they can get a better understanding of the learners'beliefs and styles; it would be also beneficial for the teachers to carry out English learning belief training and style training programs.