A Study Of Chinese Middle School Students' Language Learning Beliefs And Language Learning Strategies

My study aims at investigating the beliefs that Chinese middle school students held about English language learning and their language learning strategics used in different grades. It also investigates the developmental features of middle school students' language learning beliefs (LLB) and language learning strategies (LLS). Furthermore, my study attempts to find out the interaction of language learning beliefs , language learning strategies and language proficiency ; the prediction of language learning beliefs and language learning strategies to language proficiency .496 middle school students in Quan Nan No.1 Middle School in Jiang Xi Province were selected for the study. They were from six grades aged from 12 to 19. They were requested to complete a questionnaire, which consisted of the Beliefs about Language Learning Instrument (13ALL1) developed by Horwitz and the Strategy Inventory for Language Learning (SILL) by Oxford.The study shows that the subjects hold positive as well as negative language learning beliefs. They have quite strong motivation and expectation to learn English though they have not enough confidence in their foreign language competence. The subjects prefer practice and communication in English language learning but they are lack of strong self-efficacy.In terms of language learning strategy, the subjects prefer social and compensation strategies with the least frequent memory strategy. They should be given more instructions in cognitive and mela-cognitive strategy as well as in affective strategy.The general developmental tendency of LL13 and LLS of middle school students are similar: rising first, then decreasing, after that rising again and developing smoothly. The study also shows us the significant correlation between language learning beliefs and language learning strategies. In five categories of language learning beliefs, those about self-efficacy have the strongest relationship with six categories of language learning strategies. And in Grade 2 , the frequency ofcorrelation between language learning beliefs and language learning strategies stands the inost. Grade 2, Grade 3 and Grade 5 are the crucial stages for language learning beliefs developing and language learning strategies training.On the findings, pedagogical applications were made in lour areas: 1) language teaching 2) teacher's education 3) language learning beliefs developing and language learning strategies training 4) learners' autonomous learning.