Anxiety and beliefs about language learning: A study of Turkish-speaking university students learning English in North Cyprus

This study investigated beliefs about language learning and foreign language anxiety of Turkish-speaking university students learning English as a foreign language (EFL) in North Cyprus. In addition, the relationships among the students' foreign language anxiety levels and beliefs about language learning were studied.;The subjects of this study were 882 Turkish-speaking students studying English in the preparatory schools of two universities, located in North Cyprus. A questionnaire consisting of the Beliefs About Language Learning Inventory (Horwitz, 1983a, 1987), the Foreign Language Classroom Anxiety Scale (Horwitz, 1983b), and a background questionnaire was translated into Turkish and administered to the subjects.;First, this study found that the Turkish-speaking university students had beliefs about language learning that were different from those of other students in previous studies.;Second, based on their FLCAS scores the Turkish-speaking university students reported lower levels of foreign language anxiety than subjects in previous studies. These findings indicate that the anxiety level of language learners may be influenced by their cultural backgrounds.;Third, one belief factor--self-efficacy/confidence in speaking--was significantly correlated with foreign language anxiety. This factor had a negative relationship with foreign language anxiety: in other words, the Turkish-speaking learners of English who are confident about their English ability tend to have low foreign language anxiety.;Fourth, as university instruction in North Cyprus is conducted in English, a knowledge of English is crucial to Turkish-speaking students attempting to begin their university education and later to enter the job market. Turkish-speaking students showed their need of learning English in their BALLI responses. According to the BALLI results Turkish-speaking university students have more instrumental motivation than integrative motivation to learn English.;Fifth, the situation and motivational circumstances under which the Turkish-speaking university students in this study were learning English differ from the circumstances of subjects in previous studies. This difference may explain why Turkish EFL learners felt less anxiety compared to ESL and EFL students in previous studies.