University Vocational School Students’ Beliefs about Foreign Language Learning

Yıl 2018, Sayı: 46, 325 - 343, 19.04.2018

Mustafa Şevik , Ahmet Yalçın , Fatma Bostancıoğlu

https://doi.org/10.21764/maeuefd.318634

Cited By: 2

Öz

Understanding language learner beliefs, in other words understanding what language learners accept as true or real, has recently been stressed in educational research. This is mainly because language learning beliefs are regarded as fundamental in the language learning process and in learners progress. Therefore, finding out language learner beliefs about language learning will not only be helpful in forming effective learning methods but also provide guidelines for language teachers, syllabus planners and policy makers to suit their teaching methods, syllabuses, and policies to meet learner beliefs and expectations. This paper reports on a descriptive study of language learning beliefs held by 296 university vocational school students studying in the two-year associate degree programs at Mehmet Akif Ersoy University (MAKÜ), Gölhisar Vocational School and Gölhisar Health Services Vocational School. A modified Turkish version of a questionnaire based on Horwitz BALLI (Beliefs About Language Learning Inventory) was used to assess learners’ beliefs. The data were analyzed descriptively and the results were provided in tables with their relevant percentages. The results of this study demonstrated that university vocational school learners have a range of beliefs both similar to and different from those revealed by previous research on learner beliefs about language learning. The study concludes with suggestions that the identification of learner beliefs about language learning may lead to increased awareness on the part of the learners themselves, syllabus planners and policy makers.

Anahtar Kelimeler

Student beliefs, English

Meslek Yüksekokulu Öğrencilerinin Yabancı Dil Öğrenmeye İlişkin Düşünceleri

Öz

Öğrencilerin dil öğrenmeye ilişkin
düşüncelerini anlamak, diğer bir deyişle, öğrencilerin neyi doğru ya da gerçek
olarak kabul ettiklerini anlamak, son zamanlarda eğitim araştırmalarında önemle
belirtilmiştir. Bunun temel nedeni, dil öğrenmeye ilişkin düşüncelerin, dil
öğrenme sürecinde ve öğrencilerin ilerlemesinde temel ilke olarak kabul
görmesidir. Bu nedenle, öğrencilerin dil öğrenmeyle ilgili düşüncelerini ortaya
çıkarmak, etkili öğrenme yöntemleri oluşturmada faydalı olmasının yanında, dil
öğretmenleri, müfredat planlayıcıları ve siyasilerin öğretim yöntemlerini,
müfredatları ve politikalarını öğrencilerin düşünce ve beklentilerine uygun
hale getirmesinde klavuz hükmünde olacaktır. Bu makale, Mehmet Akif Ersoy
Üniversitesi (MAKÜ) Gölhisar Meslek Yüksekokulu ve Gölhisar Sağlık Hizmetleri
Meslek Yüksekokulunda iki yıllık ön lisans programlarında öğrenim gören 296
üniversite meslek yüksekokulu öğrencisinin dil öğrenmeye ilişkin düşüncelerini
bir durum tespit çalışması olarak incelemektedir. Öğrencilerin düşüncelerini
değerlendirmek için, Horwitz BALLI (Dil Öğrenme Envanteri İle İlgili
Düşünceler) temelli anketin Türkçeye uyarlanmış versiyonu kullanılmıştır.
Veriler betimleyici olarak analiz edilmiş ve sonuçlar ilgili yüzdelerle
birlikte tablolarda verilmiştir. Bu çalışmanın sonuçları, üniversite meslek
yüksekokulu öğrencilerinin dil öğrenmeyle ilgili öğrenci düşüncelerine ilişkin
yapılan önceki araştırmalara hem benzer hem de farklı düşünce yelpazesine sahip
olduklarını göstermektedir. Çalışma, dil öğrenimi konusundaki öğrenci
düşüncelerinin tespit edilmesinin öğrencilerin kendilerinin, müfredat
hazırlayanların ve siyasilerin farkındalıklarını arttırabileceğini öne
sürmektedir.

 

Anahtar Kelimeler

Öğrenci düşünceleri, İngilizce

Kaynakça

• Alsamaani, A.S. (2012). Assessing Saudi learners’ beliefs about English language learning. International Journal of English and Education , 1 (2), 31-55.
• Altan, M.Z. (2006). Beliefs about language learning of foreign language-major university students. The Australian Journal of Teacher Education , 31 (2), 45-52.
• Altan, M.Z. (2012). Pre-service EFL teachers’ beliefs about foreign language learning. European Journal of Teacher Education, 35 (4), 481-493.
• Bacon, C. & Finnemann, D. (1992). Sex differences in self-reported beliefs about language learning and authentic oral and written input. Language Learning, 42(4), 471-495.
• Büyükyazı, M. (2010). The beliefs of university foreign language students and their teachers about language learning. Sosyal Bilimler, 8(1), 169-182.
• Cotteral, S. (1999). Key variables in language learning: what do learners believe about them?, System, 27, 493-513.
• Ehrlich, S. (2008). Gender as social practice: implications for social practice. Studies in Second Language Acquisition, 19, 421-446.
• Horwitz, E.K. (1987). Surveying student beliefs about language learning. In Learner strategies in language learning , ed. A. Wenden and J. Rubin, 119-29. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall.
• Horwitz, E.K. (1988). The beliefs about language learning of beginning university foreign language students. Modern Language Journal, 72, 283-94.
• Horwitz, E.K. (2007). Becoming a language teacher: a practical guide to second language learning and teaching. Hong Kong: Pearson. Khaffafi Azar, F. and Saeidi, M. (2013). The Relationship between Iranian EFL Learners’ Beliefs about Language Learning and Their Use of Learning Strategies. English Language Teaching, 6(11).
• Oz, H. (2007). Understanding metacognitive knowledge of Turkish EFL students in secondary education. Novitas-ROYAL, 1(2), 53-83. Richardson, V. (1996). The role of attitudes and beliefs in learning to teach. In Handbook of research on teacher education, ed. J. Sikula, T.J. Buttery and E. Guyton, 102 - 19. New York: Macmillan.
• Rieger, B. (2009). Hungarian university students’ beliefs about language learning: a questionnaire study. WoPaLP, 3, 97-113.
• Sakui, K. & Gaies, S.J. (1999). Investigating Japanese learners’ beliefs about language learning. System, 27(4), 473-92.
• Siebert, L. (2003). Student and teacher beliefs about language learning. Foreign Language Annals, 33(4), 394-420.
• Şevik, M. (2013). University Prep school EFL students’ beliefs about foreign language learning. Book proceedings of the 13th International Language, Literature and Stylistics Symposium: Simple Style (pp. 1175-1186). Kars, Turkey.
• Tercanlıoglu, L. (2005). Pre-service EFL teachers beliefs about foreign language learning and how they relate to gender. Electronic Journal of Research in Educational Psychology, 5-3(1), 145-62.
• Victori, M. & Lockhart, W. (1995). Enhancing metacognition in self-directed language learning. System, 23(2), 223-34.
• Vipulphol, J. (2004). Beliefs about language learning and teaching approaches of pre - service EFL teachers in Thailand. Unpublished PhD thesis, Faculty of Graduate College of the Oklahoma State University: U.S.A.
• Zhong, Q. (2015). The nature of language learners’ beliefs: A half-told story. International Journal of English Studies, 15(2), p.41.