Attitudes towards learning English as a Second Language (ESL): the case of students in a rural secondary school in Malaysia

Many research have been done pertaining the issue of students’ attitudes towards learning English as a second language and the factors leading to these attitudes. However, very little is known about how these factors actually affect the students. By applying the sociocultural perspectives based on...

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Main Authors: Zulkefly Balan, Farah, Razali, Abu Bakar
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: International Educational & Social Sciences Association 2017
Online Access:http://psasir.upm.edu.my/id/eprint/60969/
http://psasir.upm.edu.my/id/eprint/60969/1/ESL.pdf
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author Zulkefly Balan, Farah
Razali, Abu Bakar
author_facet Zulkefly Balan, Farah
Razali, Abu Bakar
author_sort Zulkefly Balan, Farah
building UPM Institutional Repository
collection Online Access
description Many research have been done pertaining the issue of students’ attitudes towards learning English as a second language and the factors leading to these attitudes. However, very little is known about how these factors actually affect the students. By applying the sociocultural perspectives based on three theories (i.e., Vygotsky’s (1978) Sociocultural Theory, Spolsky’s (1989) Model of Second Language Learning, and Gardner’s (1985) Second Language Acquisition Theory) this study examines the students’ attitudes towards learning English as a second language in one rural school in the country, involving 6 students from 3 different classes. There were three questions that guided this study, namely: (i) What are the rural secondary school students’ attitudes towards learning the English language?; (ii) What are the sociocultural and psychological factors that contribute to the rural secondary school students’ attitude towards learning the English language?; (iii) How do these sociocultural and psychological factors contribute to the rural secondary school students’ attitude towards learning the English language? Working within the tradition of descriptive and exploratory qualitative research, this study employed a case study approach. A rural secondary school in a southern state in Malaysia was selected with 6 students from 3 different classes as the primary participants. These students were interviewed twice and were observed at least thrice during English lesson in the classrooms. The researchers also analysed their learning materials (i.e. their notes, exercises and homework).
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spelling upm-609692021-07-17T23:14:28Z http://psasir.upm.edu.my/id/eprint/60969/ Attitudes towards learning English as a Second Language (ESL): the case of students in a rural secondary school in Malaysia Zulkefly Balan, Farah Razali, Abu Bakar Many research have been done pertaining the issue of students’ attitudes towards learning English as a second language and the factors leading to these attitudes. However, very little is known about how these factors actually affect the students. By applying the sociocultural perspectives based on three theories (i.e., Vygotsky’s (1978) Sociocultural Theory, Spolsky’s (1989) Model of Second Language Learning, and Gardner’s (1985) Second Language Acquisition Theory) this study examines the students’ attitudes towards learning English as a second language in one rural school in the country, involving 6 students from 3 different classes. There were three questions that guided this study, namely: (i) What are the rural secondary school students’ attitudes towards learning the English language?; (ii) What are the sociocultural and psychological factors that contribute to the rural secondary school students’ attitude towards learning the English language?; (iii) How do these sociocultural and psychological factors contribute to the rural secondary school students’ attitude towards learning the English language? Working within the tradition of descriptive and exploratory qualitative research, this study employed a case study approach. A rural secondary school in a southern state in Malaysia was selected with 6 students from 3 different classes as the primary participants. These students were interviewed twice and were observed at least thrice during English lesson in the classrooms. The researchers also analysed their learning materials (i.e. their notes, exercises and homework). International Educational & Social Sciences Association 2017 Article PeerReviewed text en http://psasir.upm.edu.my/id/eprint/60969/1/ESL.pdf Zulkefly Balan, Farah and Razali, Abu Bakar (2017) Attitudes towards learning English as a Second Language (ESL): the case of students in a rural secondary school in Malaysia. Journal of Studies in Social Sciences and Humanities, 3 (1). 12- 34. ISSN 2413-9270 http://www.jssshonline.com/jsssh-volume-3-no-1-2017
spellingShingle Zulkefly Balan, Farah
Razali, Abu Bakar
Attitudes towards learning English as a Second Language (ESL): the case of students in a rural secondary school in Malaysia
title Attitudes towards learning English as a Second Language (ESL): the case of students in a rural secondary school in Malaysia
title_full Attitudes towards learning English as a Second Language (ESL): the case of students in a rural secondary school in Malaysia
title_fullStr Attitudes towards learning English as a Second Language (ESL): the case of students in a rural secondary school in Malaysia
title_full_unstemmed Attitudes towards learning English as a Second Language (ESL): the case of students in a rural secondary school in Malaysia
title_short Attitudes towards learning English as a Second Language (ESL): the case of students in a rural secondary school in Malaysia
title_sort attitudes towards learning english as a second language (esl): the case of students in a rural secondary school in malaysia
url http://psasir.upm.edu.my/id/eprint/60969/
http://psasir.upm.edu.my/id/eprint/60969/
http://psasir.upm.edu.my/id/eprint/60969/1/ESL.pdf