Students’ beliefs about language learning: a study of university students’ beliefs about learning English as a foreign language

Abstract

This study explores students’ beliefs about learning English as a foreign language (EFL). The participants in this study were students at International University of Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina, where English is the formal language of instruction. The research adapted the questionnaire from Horwitz’s (1987) Beliefs About Language Learning Instrument (BALLI), which was filled in by 157 students. In the process of developing the research objectives and research questions, the following determinants were examined: the difficulty of language learning, the foreign language aptitude, the nature of language learning, learning strategies and communication strategies, and motivations and expectations. After testing the determinants, results indicate that students’ beliefs about language have an impact on their learning process. Therefore, this paper argues for the need to address students’ beliefs about language learning and highlights the teacher’s role in raising university students’ awareness of these issues. /Keywords: language learning, students’ beliefs, EFL