Affective Aspects of Language Learning: Beliefs, Attitudes, Efficacy

The focus of this study is the relationship between language attitude, beliefs, efficacy, English language competence, and language achievement. Two hundred and eighty-five students from five metropolitan primary schools in Western Australia completed a specially designed questionnaire based on the...

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Main Authors: Oliver, Rhonda, Purdie, Nola, Rochecouste, Judith
Format: Journal Article
Published: Afmlta 2005
Online Access:http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/77602
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author Oliver, Rhonda
Purdie, Nola
Rochecouste, Judith
author_facet Oliver, Rhonda
Purdie, Nola
Rochecouste, Judith
author_sort Oliver, Rhonda
building Curtin Institutional Repository
collection Online Access
description The focus of this study is the relationship between language attitude, beliefs, efficacy, English language competence, and language achievement. Two hundred and eighty-five students from five metropolitan primary schools in Western Australia completed a specially designed questionnaire based on the Attitude/Motivation Test Battery (Gardner, 1985a). A different language was taught in each of the five schools: French (24%), German (19%), Indonesian (19%), Italian (16%), and Japanese (22%). Fifteen percent of students spoke another language in addition to English. Thirteen percent of students were not born in Australia. No student had been in Australia for less than two years. After controlling for the effects of gender, age, and language studied, language efficacy was found to be a significant predictor of language achievement. However, this effect disappeared in the presence of English-speaking competence, which remained as the only significant predictor from the group of language affect and English competency variables. A confounding effect was observed for the variable language studied. These results tend to support Cummins' (1992) suggestion that first and second language proficiency have a common underlying interdependence. Given these tentative findings, the research reported in this paper shows that the interrelationships between affective factors and language learning are both complex and dynamic and ripe for further exploration.
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spelling curtin-20.500.11937-776022020-04-08T06:32:31Z Affective Aspects of Language Learning: Beliefs, Attitudes, Efficacy Oliver, Rhonda Purdie, Nola Rochecouste, Judith The focus of this study is the relationship between language attitude, beliefs, efficacy, English language competence, and language achievement. Two hundred and eighty-five students from five metropolitan primary schools in Western Australia completed a specially designed questionnaire based on the Attitude/Motivation Test Battery (Gardner, 1985a). A different language was taught in each of the five schools: French (24%), German (19%), Indonesian (19%), Italian (16%), and Japanese (22%). Fifteen percent of students spoke another language in addition to English. Thirteen percent of students were not born in Australia. No student had been in Australia for less than two years. After controlling for the effects of gender, age, and language studied, language efficacy was found to be a significant predictor of language achievement. However, this effect disappeared in the presence of English-speaking competence, which remained as the only significant predictor from the group of language affect and English competency variables. A confounding effect was observed for the variable language studied. These results tend to support Cummins' (1992) suggestion that first and second language proficiency have a common underlying interdependence. Given these tentative findings, the research reported in this paper shows that the interrelationships between affective factors and language learning are both complex and dynamic and ripe for further exploration. 2005 Journal Article http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/77602 Afmlta restricted
spellingShingle Oliver, Rhonda
Purdie, Nola
Rochecouste, Judith
Affective Aspects of Language Learning: Beliefs, Attitudes, Efficacy
title Affective Aspects of Language Learning: Beliefs, Attitudes, Efficacy
title_full Affective Aspects of Language Learning: Beliefs, Attitudes, Efficacy
title_fullStr Affective Aspects of Language Learning: Beliefs, Attitudes, Efficacy
title_full_unstemmed Affective Aspects of Language Learning: Beliefs, Attitudes, Efficacy
title_short Affective Aspects of Language Learning: Beliefs, Attitudes, Efficacy
title_sort affective aspects of language learning: beliefs, attitudes, efficacy
url http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/77602