Attitudes towards English language learning in higher education

Abstract

The paper analyses the attitudes and beliefs of English language learners at the higher education level, including their motivation for learning English as a second language. The testing tool used for evaluation is a modified questionnaire adapted from a research paper that examined the students` attitudes towards learning German and Italian languages (Kovač and MršićZdilar, 2017) which was originally based on the questionnaires used to explore attitudes towards foreign language (MihaljevićDjigunović 1998,Boonrangsri et al. 2004,Zainol et al. 2012, Burgos & Perez 2015). The sample includes undergraduate students at the Faculty of Science, University of Split, who learn English as part of the elective course English for Specific Purposes within their respective study programme syllabi (Information, Physics, Information and Technology or Biology and Chemistry). The proposed research paper aims to examine how the students perceive English language learning and how they assess its importance for their further professional development and what motivates them for English language learning. As indicated in the above-mentioned research paper, students’ attitudes towards learning a foreign language are one of the basic factors which influence learning success. Their significance was recognised by foreign language teachers, while numerous studies have emphasised various aspects of their significant role in the successful mastering of a foreign language. Therefore, this study may contribute to a better understanding of why students in Croatia learn English and what may additionally motivate them to improve their proficiency and fluency. / Keywords: motivation, learning, beliefs, higher education, English for Specific Purposes