Transcript Exploring young learners’ beliefs about foreign language

Greek young learners’ perceptions
about foreign language learning
and teaching
Angeliki Psaltou-Joycey
Areti-Maria Sougari
Aristotle University of Thessaloniki
Reasons for investigating beliefs
Beliefs about LL influence
 Language learning behaviour (Erhman &
Oxford 1995; Mori 1999)
 Attitudes, motivation, achievement
(Riley 1996; Cain & Dweck 1995)
Beliefs about the teacher’s role
 Teachers’ beliefs
often differ from
learners’ beliefs about the teacher’s
role in the LL process (Cortazzi & Jin
1996; Kern 1995; McCargar 1993)
The role of feedback
 Both,
content-based and formal errors
should be corrected (Radecki & Swales
1988)
 Errors should be corrected from early
stages (Yang 1999)
 Learners should self-correct (Stern
1975)
Learner independence
 Importance
of educational and cultural
background (Knowles 1976; Cameron
1990)
 Learners want autonomy in learning
(Cotterall 1995)
 Importance of metacognitive
knowledge (Wenden 1999)
Beliefs about learning strategies
 Self-efficacy
affects strategy use (Yang
1996)
 Learning directly affects strategy use (Wen
& Johnson 1997; Wenden 1999)
 Gender affects strategy use (Bacon &
Finnemann 1992)
 Motivating course material affects strategy
use (Pintrich 1989; Pintrich & De Groot
1990)
Learning context and beliefs
 L2
vs FL context
 Secondary
(Kojic-Sabo & Lightbown 1999)
learners and adult learners
(Chesterfield and Chesterfield 1985; Kiely 2002)
What about primary learners?
Very limited research (Cain and Dweck 1995;
Chamot and El-Dinary 1999; Purdie & Oliver 1999; Lin
2001; Lan and Oxford 2003)
Present study
Aim:
To explore learners’ beliefs about
language learning
To suggest plausible ways for effective
teaching strategies
Present study: description
Subjects: N= 516
Primary – 6th grade (N= 262)
Lower Secondary – 3rd grade (N=254)
Instrument:

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Questionnaire (adapted from Cotterall 1995, 1999;
Oxford 1990) 5-point Likert scale (1: I totally disagree, 5: I
totally agree)
Role of the teacher
Role of feedback
Nature of learning
Role of independent learning
Role of learning strategies
Method of analysis: descriptive statistics (frequencies, means, ttests)
Significance level: p<.05
Present study: Results
Gender
Boys
48%
Girls
52%
Boys
Girls
Language Spoken at home
100
80
60
92
90
87
Primary
Lower Secondary
Total
40
5 10
20
7
3 3
0
Greek
Greek and
other
Other
3
Attending langage classes privately
100
80 94 93
60
Primary
Lower secondary
40
20
6
0
YES
NO
7
Attainment of a certificate in English
96
100
80
57
60
43
Primary
Lower Secondary
40
20
4
0
YES
NO
RESULTS

T-test results

Significant differences between Primary Learners (PL)
and Lower Secondary Learners (LSL) in the case of

Beliefs about the
 Role of the teacher (PL= 3,4 /LSL= 3,2 / t = 3,5, p< .001)
 Role of independent learning (PL= 3,6 /LSL= 3,3 / t = 3,5,
p< .001)
 Nature of learning (PL= 3,6 / LSL= 3,3 /t = 6,2, p< .001)

But not in the case of feedback (p > .05)
 The
older the learners are, the more
inquisitive they become. They start looking
at teaching and learning in a more critical
way as they grow older.
 Both groups of learners hold similar views
as regards the role of feedback, because
feedback is seen as part of their everyday
reality, which affects the way they learn.
Results:
Beliefs about the role of the teacher
PL hold stronger beliefs than LSL
The T is expected to
 help them have good learning outcomes (PL=4,4 / LSL = 3,9 / t= 5,7, p<
.001)



create opportunities for practice (PL=4,1 / LSL=3,8 / t= 2,7, p< .01)
let the learners know what they have learnt upon completion of a
certain activity (PL= 3,9 / LSL= 3,5 / t= 3,5, p< .001)
decide how much time will be devoted to a certain activity (PL=3,9 /
LSL=3,5 / t= 2,2, p< .05)
But learners think alike when they are asked whether their Teacher
should (no significant differences found, p> .05)
 talk to them about their progress
 tell them what to do
 inform them about problems with their learning
 give them regular tests
Beliefs about the role of
feedback
PL believe that

they read carefully the corrections made in their written
assignments to avoid similar mistakes

(PL= 4,5 / LSL = 3,9 / t= 5,8, p< .001)
the teacher knows better than anyone else the progress they are
making (PL= 4,1 / LSL= 3,7 / t= 3,2, p< .001)
LSL believe they are more critical of what they say

possible errors may prove to be an obstacle (PL= 3,6 / LSL= 4,0 / t= 3,5,
p<.001)
Beliefs about the nature of
learning
Primary learners believe that

Knowledge of rules is important

Errors hinder learning (PL= 2,7 / LSL= 2,2 / t= 3,7, p< .001)
In order to talk, they should have the knowledge of rules (PL= 4,3 /

(PL= 4,3/LSL=4,0 / t= 3,3, p< .001)
LSL= 3,5 / t= 7,6, p< .001)

Learning can be achieved within a short time (PL=3,7 / LSL=3,4 / t= 3,7, p<
.001)

Progress in English depends on the work performed in class
4,0/ LSL=3,6 / t= 4,3, p< .001)
BUT lower secondary learners believe
 Discussing about progress with the Teacher makes them feel
uneasy (PL= 3,1 / LSL= 3,4 / t= -2,2, p< .05)
(PL=
Beliefs about independent
learning
Primary learners believe that

They try to find solutions to difficulties alone (PL=3,3 / LSL= 2,9
/ t= 3,4, p< .001)

They can spot errors (speaking/writing)
.001)
(PL=3,9/ LSL= 3,6 / t= 3,9, p<
Beliefs about the role of
learning strategies
Memory strategies (PL = 3,3 /LSL=2,6 / t= 7,2 , p< .001)
Cognitive strategies (PL = 3,3 /LSL= 3,1 / t= 3,8, p< .001)
Compensation strategies (PL =3,7 /LSL= 3,9 / t= -3, p<
.01)
Metacognitive strategies (PL = 4,1 /LSL= 3,4/ t= 8,1, p<
.001)
Social strategies (PL = 4,0 /LSL= 3,8 / t= 2,3, p< .05)
Beliefs about the role of
learning strategies
Memory strategies –
Making new sentences that incorporate new words (PL=3,2 /
LSL=2,6 /t= 4,9, p< .001)
Regular revisions (PL= 3,9/ LSL=3,2 /t= 6,4, p<.001)
Cognitive strategies –

pronunciation practice (PL= 4,0/ LSL=3,2 / t=7,6, p<.001)
 searching for similarities between MT and TL (PL=
3,0/ LSL=2,8 / t=2,4, p< .05)

BUT deducing meaning from context without translation
(PL= 2,8/LSL=3,3 / t= -3,894, p< .001)

Forming sentences in Greek and then translating (PL=3,4
/LSL=3,0 / t=3,1, p<.01)
Compensation strategies – deducing meaning from
context to avoid the use of a dictionary (PL= 3,4/ LSL=
3,7 / t= -2,8, p< .01)
Metacognitive strategies
studying English regularly (PL= 3,9/ LSL=2,8 / t= 9,1, p<
.001 )
concerned about progress (PL= 4,3/ LSL=3,9 / t=4,2, p<
.001)
Social strategies
asking for clarification (PL= 4,0/ LSL=3,8 / t=2,3, p< .05)
CONCLUSIONS
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The teacher is seen as a facilitator for learning.
The teacher should show them how to learn.
Errors are expected to be corrected by the teacher.
PL place importance on rules and the mother tongue.
Personal effort is considered important. Learners are
quite autonomous.
PL dedicate more time for studying due to different
priorities.
Learners make use of different strategies.
PL use memory, cognitive, metacognitive and social
strategies whereas LSL use compensation strategies.
Suggestions
 Teachers
can relax and start enjoying
teaching by adopting a facilitative role.
 Learners can assume responsibility for
their learning (willing and able) but they
need to be shown how to perform
certain things.
Thank you
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