In the second of a short series of posts from his book, Key Issues in Language Teaching, Jack Richards looks at the beliefs that learners bring with them to the language classroom.
The beliefs learners bring with them to the language classroom can greatly influence how they approach classroom learning. These include ideas concerning the relative importance or value of different languages; the roles of teachers and students in the classroom; the relative ease or difficulty of learning particular languages or aspects of language (such as grammar or pronunciation); the opinions learners have about the strategies that work best for them, and about the advantages and disadvantages of different teaching techniques and classroom activities.
The beliefs learners hold about language and language learning are assumed to influence how learners approach the task of language learning and to affect their styles of classroom participation, their strategic choices and their motivation. For example, researchers have pointed out that Chinese students may resist activities such as role play, because they believe that teachers are expected to transmit knowledge, and that ‘playing games’ would not be perceived as promoting learning. In the perceptions of Chinese students and teachers, education is ‘a serious undertaking that is least likely to be associated with light-heartedness, but requires deep commitment and painstaking effort’.
Learners from different cultural backgrounds may thus have different beliefs about respect and submission to the teacher, and whether to take risks in interpersonal communication. Learners who believe grammar is the most important aspect of a language, for example, are likely to give priority to this, while those who believe the goal in learning a language is to be understood might be expected to devote more time to developing fluency and less to achieving accuracy in grammar or pronunciation.
Most people who have had some experience of language learning have developed beliefs about learning languages. They may have formed ideas about how best to learn vocabulary or grammar; what kinds of people do best at language learning; the importance of translation; the significance of a foreign accent; the importance of practice, repetition, error correction, the value of group work and so on. Learners may also have fixed ideas about the language they are studying and (in the case of English) believe, for example, that some varieties of English are superior to others, or that English has more grammar (or less) than other languages they have studied. Learners’ beliefs are often studied by giving students statements about language or language learning and asking them to respond to them.
Learners’ beliefs may be shaped by past learning experiences and the context in which learners have studied or learned a language, as well as personal factors. Teachers and learners, however, do not necessarily share the same beliefs about language learning, and some of the beliefs learners hold may affect their classroom behaviours. In general, it has been found that students with positive beliefs about language learning tend to have stronger motivation, use a wider range of learning strategies, are less anxious about learning and achieve better results. In order to understand learners’ beliefs, classroom activities can be used in which students discuss and compare their beliefs on a range of language-learning issues. These activities can provide an opportunity for the teacher to clarify any misconceptions students may have, based on their limited experience and knowledge, particularly those that might hinder their participation in planned classroom activities.
Read Jack’s following article exploring the idea that the English Language has become an international commodity. To find out more about Key Issues in Language Teaching, click here.