A Study On Junior Middle School Students’ English Learning Beliefs

For a long time, the focus of language teaching was on how to teach language.However, since the 1970 s, the focus of language teaching has been shifted from teachers’ teaching to learners’ learning--especially individual learner differences.Learners’ language learning beliefs as an important part of individual learner differences have got more and more attention. Many studies show that learners’ language learning beliefs play an important role in influencing their learning process,learning behavior and learning proficiency. But studies about language learning beliefs begin late in China and most researchers choose postgraduates, undergraduates and high school students as their subjects while few of them choose middle school students as their subjects. Therefore, the thesis is aimed at making a comprehensive study on junior middle school students’ English learning beliefs and presents a clear understanding of students’ language learning beliefs, with which English teachers are expected to take some specific measures in their classroom teaching to help their students establish the correct English learning beliefs and improve their English learning.The author chooses questionnaire and interview as instruments. On the basis of Horwize’ s BALLI, the questionnaire of this study has got a little modification, from five dimensions-- the difficulty of language learning, foreign language aptitude, the nature of language learning, learning and communication strategies and expectation and motivation of language learning to investigate students’ language learning beliefs in junior middle school. The subjects of this study are 202 students from the Third Middle School in Ruzhou, Henan. The study is aimed at solving the following four questions: 1) What is the general situation of junior middle school students’ English learning beliefs? 2) What are the differences between male students and female students about English learning beliefs? 3) What are the differences between high-proficiency achievers and low-proficiency achievers about English learningbeliefs? 4)With the increase of grade, have students’ language learning beliefs been changed? The thesis uses descriptive analysis and Independent-sample T test to analyze the data. The major findings are as follows:First, junior middle school students have formed their own beliefs about English learning. However, some of them are positive but some of them are negative.Second, male students and female students have some significant differences in English learning beliefs. For example, male students consider that English is more difficult to learn and it takes more time to learn English well. Male students are less strongly motivated and less confident than female students in their ability to learn English.Third, there exist some differences between high-proficiency achievers and low-proficiency achievers. Low-proficiency achievers have less confidence and motivation in their aptitude to learn English, and they are reluctant to communicate with foreigners in English. Low-proficiency achievers think learning English is to learn vocabulary and they have not realized the importance of practice and repetition for learning English.Fourth, by comparison of language learning beliefs between Grade Seven students and Grade Nine students, it can be seen that with the increase of grade, they have a more profound understanding about English learning. Therefore, at this time,their teachers’ correct guidance is very important for them to set up positive English learning beliefs.Based on the above results, the author puts forward some suggestions: first,before entering the classroom, the teachers should understand their students’ English learning beliefs through a variety of means; second, the teacher should provide some useful training programs to help students establish the positive language learning beliefs; third, the teacher should design all kinds of activities to make boys and girls work together so that they can learn from each other; fourth, the teacher should encourage low-proficiency achievers to help them build up self-confidence and regaininterest in English learning.