8
a. Definition of Beliefs about Language Learning
Beliefs are defined as judgments and evaluations that people make about themselves, others, and about the world around them Dilts 1999. Having another
opinion instead of the simple definition of belief by Dilts, Pajares 1992 adds that it is in fact difficult to define the notion of belief. As belief has a blurred
construct, it often refers to different definitions such as: “
attitudes, values, judgments, axioms, opinions, ideology, perceptions, conceptions, conceptual systems, preconceptions,
dispositions, implicit theories, explicit theories, personal theories, internal mental processes, action strategies, rules of
practice, practical principles, perspectives, repertories of understanding, and social strategy, to name but a few that can be
found in the literature.”
Pajares 1992: 309 Clark and Peterson 1986 at one point add more confusion of the notion
of belief by issuing a comparison of belief and knowledge. Several studies have found that belief and knowledge are similar since belief develops a form of
knowledge Murphy, 2000. Yet, there is a difference between belief and knowledge. Nespor 1987 elaborates that belief can be said to relate much more
heavily on affective and evaluative components than knowledge. In other words, belief tends to have a higher degree of subjectivity. A belief, therefore, can be
concluded as a person’s choice than the one fact agreed by everybody. In the other hand, Pajares 1992: 307 states that beliefs are established
early. An interesting fact shows that the earlier a belief is integrated into the belief structure, the more difficult it is to change Nespor, 1987. He also explains that a
certain belief tends to be preserved even against disagreement initiated by reason, PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI
9 time, schooling, or experience. Furthermore, individuals tend to hold on to beliefs
based on incorrect or incomplete knowledge even after scientifically correct explanations are presented to them. This is the reason why beliefs appear to be
fixed, resistant to change. Pajares also specified the role of beliefs in defining tasks and selecting the cognitive tools with which to interpret, plan, and make
decisions regarding such tasks. Stevick 1980: 4 says that “success depends less on materials, techniques, and linguistic analyses, and more on what goes on inside
and between the people in the classroom.” He elaborates, furthermore, that learners’ beliefs have a significant impact on the learning process.Therefore,
beliefs play a critical role in defining behavior and organizing knowledge and information.
The term of beliefs about language learning was not distinctly characterized by researchers in previous studies. Elaine Horwitz, one of the
pioneer reasearchers of the studies ob beliefs about language learning, did not give an exact definition of beliefs about language learning in her articles. She only
refers to ‘beliefs’ using the terms such as preconceptions 1985, preconceived ideas 1987, and preconceived notions 1988 without giving specific
descriptions about the construct Vibulpol, 2005. In addition, Horwitz introduced her instrument, BALLI, as an assessment of learners’ opinions [italic] p.120,
1987. EFL learners come to classes with no ideas what the nature of the learning is and how they will undergo the process of learning. Horwitz 1987 assumed
that learners have some preasumptions about what lanugage learning is and how a second language should be learned. These preexisting beliefs impact learners’
approaches and behaviours in the learning process White, 1999. PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI
Kategori