The Importance of Studying Learner’s Beliefs about Language

15 gender, and first language, background may also influence foreign language learning Lockhart, 1996. Furthermore, it has been discussed in some studies that beliefs and a special ability in learning foreign language have a correlation. One of the supporting discussions is from Horwitz. In her 3 studies 1985, 1987, 1988, Horwitz stated that learners’ beliefs of foreign language aptitude effects negatively if learners believe in the existence of foreign language aptitude but do not think that they themselves have it. As she explained further, “Learners who feel that they lack some capacity necessity to language learning probably doubt their own ability as language learners and expect to do poorly in language study” p.288. Another researcher, Mori 1999: 408, discovered that when learners believe in language learning ability as “unmanageable” or “fixed”, they may not be willing to commit themselves in language learning process. In her study to Japanese learners, it was found that learners who believed that a foreign language learning aptitude was an unlearned ability and fixed tended to reach less than those who understand that their ability is controllable and increasable. In other words, two statements on language aptitude which are “I have foreign language aptitude” and “Everyone can learn how to speak a foreign language” represent learners’ beliefs on their foreign language learning aptitude. These two beliefs on language aptitude determine students’ achievements during the learning processes. PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI 16 2 Beliefs about the Difficulty of Language Learning As Mori 1999 found that learners who believed that the foreign language they were learning is an easy language, tended to do better than those who believed that they were studying a difficult language. It can be inferred that beliefs about the difficulty of language learning associate with language achievement. In addition, Horwitz 1987 found that learners who think that they are learning an easy foreign language but cannot make much progress can be discouraged and may retreat themselves from the language learning process. Peacock 1999 supported this finding by stating that those who are anxious may be reluctant in learning the foreign language which results in their proficiency. In other words, beliefs about the difficulty of language learning were related to language achievement and anxiety. They also determined and affected the success of language learning. 3 Beliefs about the Nature of Language Learning Richard and Lockhart 1996 pointed out that the nature of language learning is related to the importance of learning the grammatical rules, and the importance of learning the vocabulary.Horwitz 1987: 124 found that learners who possess beliefs about the importance of vocabulary and grammar in language learning may have a negative impact in their learning language. It is predicted that language learners would spend a lot of time dealing with memorizing vocabulary list and grammar rules. In addition, Peacock 1999 also said that language learners would achieve less English proficiency when they believe that learning English is a matter of learning grammar rules. PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI