The beliefs of two expert EFL learners

Abstract

Much of the research into ‘expert’ language learners has focused largely on their learning strategies or styles. Less attention has been paid to other expert learner characteristics, such as learner beliefs. However, the importance of learners' beliefs in guiding their behaviours and how they interpret their experiences is widely recognised. This article examines the situated belief systems of two expert, tertiary-level EFL learners. Qualitative data were generated with the students in a set of two extended interviews and were analysed employing a grounded theory approach. Based on the findings, the article attempts to indicate some of the complexity and interrelatedness of learners’ beliefs, as well as the close connection between a learner's beliefs and their personal language learning history. It concludes by raising questions about understandings of beliefs which categorise them as being fundamentally ‘positive’ or ‘negative’. It suggests that it may be more appropriate for researchers and educators to consider learner beliefs in terms of their appropriacy for a particular individual in their unique sociocultural, educational and personal contexts.