Teacher’s and Students’ Beliefs on English for General Academic Purposes: The Case of Iranian University Students

Masoud Kermani Kojour,Javad Kia Heirati

doi:10.5539/elt.v8n12p37

Abstract

<p>This study was framed in the sociocultural theory to look into the evolution of L2 learners’ beliefs about the general English course during a term. One hundred ninety-eight male and female university students and their general English course teacher were randomly selected as the participants of the study. Data were gathered through the administration of Horwitz’s (1988) BALLI questionnaire. Among the participants, 38 students were invited to take part in semi-structured interview sessions and fill in an open-ended questionnaire at the beginning and end of the term. Descriptive statics were applied to precisely analyze the quantitative data based on the questionnaire. In order to qualitatively analyze the data, the grounded theory methodology was utilized to code the data and find the main categories in line with the research questions of the study. Findings concluded that all the learners changed their simplistic beliefs about the general English course highlighting the attention to grammar and vocabulary. In fact, the teacher believed in teaching strategies to pave the way for the learners to comprehend the text better and apply the strategies while reading. The teacher’s meditational activity assisted the learners to evolve their simplistic beliefs and be able to benefit from reading strategies for better comprehension. Awareness-raising activities should be done in terms of teachers’ and students’ beliefs about EGAP (English for general academic purposes) to equip L2 learners with better educational environments resulting in their enjoyment of the learning process.</p>

Highlights

1.1 Beliefs in Language LearningAs to the role of beliefs in applied linguistics, many scholars have made their best attempts to uncover the complex nature of beliefs since Pajares (1992) argues that beliefs are “messy constructs” (p. 307), highlighting the complicated nature of beliefs systems
Recent approaches toward belief studies have focused on the application of the sociocultural theory to investigate the dynamic nature of beliefs and how they evolve during a period of time as a result of being involved in the context of interaction
As beliefs have been recognized as a key issue in the learning process, the study aimed to take the teacher and learners’ beliefs about a general English course at university focusing on English for general academic purposes (EGAP) as a sub-division of English for specific purposes (ESP) and English for academic purposes (EAP)

Summary

Introduction

1.1 Beliefs in Language LearningAs to the role of beliefs in applied linguistics, many scholars have made their best attempts to uncover the complex nature of beliefs since Pajares (1992) argues that beliefs are “messy constructs” (p. 307), highlighting the complicated nature of beliefs systems. Studies on the role of beliefs have initially been done by Horwitz (1988) who highlighted the significance of beliefs in the language learning process, which may enhance or reduce this process. Horwitz found that some learners paid much attention to the role of vocabulary and grammar, which seems to be simplistic She suggests that it is better for learners to take a holistic approach toward learning a language. Recent approaches toward belief studies have focused on the application of the sociocultural theory to investigate the dynamic nature of beliefs (see Rayati Damavandi, & Kia Heirati, 2015) and how they evolve during a period of time as a result of being involved in the context of interaction (see Alanen, 2006; Kalaja & Barcelos, 2006). A brief history of the issue is provided

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