Belief Formation Learners’ beliefs
second language in a wide range of social situation or to achieve professional motivation, they will perceive the communicative value of
the second language and will therefore be motivated to acquire in it. Likewise, if learners have favorable attitudes towards the speakers of the
language, they will need to contact with them. Motivation in language learning is divided into two that is
intrinsic and extrinsic motivation. Motivation to perform an activity simply for the pleasure and satisfaction that accompany the action called
intrinsic motivation; the learner performs based on their own willingness. In this case, the learner is willing to find delight in learning a new way to
express their idea in the target language. Extrinsic motivation is motivation that come from everything around the learner, for example
social demands. Gardner and Lambert in Lightbown and Spada 1999 created the terms integrative motivation to refer to language learning for
personal growth and cultural enrichment, and instrumental motivation for language learning for more immediate or practical goals. The result of
the study showed that these types of motivation are related to success in language learning. Generally type of motivation determines the
performance or the way or the attitude of the learners in their learning language.
Other characteristic of language learner is learner preferences. In this case, learner has clear preferences for how they go about learning
new material. The term
„
learning style has been used to describe an individuals natural, habitual, and favorite way of absorbing, processing
and retaining new information and skills Lightbown and Spada,1999. There are differences on the style of learning, seems this really
individually. Basically there are three categories of learning style such as visual, auditory and kinesthetic and every style has its own strength and
weakness, this will affect to the way of learning. Here are some characteristics adapted from Brown about good
language learning 2007 a. Low inhibitions
A good language learner tends to feel secure enough to be able to lower their inhibitions. He or she may create a new second language
identity to experiment with second language Brown, 2007; Lightbown and Spada, 2006. However, Different studies on inhibitions have
highlighted terminological uncertainty as to what „inhibitions‟ really are, and have not been able to confirm any claims. Scovel: 2001, in
Brown 2007. b. Risk taking ability
A good language learner tends to take more risks. Without risks, there would be an absence of error and therefore an absence of learning
Brown, 2007. In other hand Learners who are very cautious and take few risks can also excel in certain learning environments Lightbown and
Spada 2006. It is arguable as to how much of risk should be considered optimal.
c. High self-confidence L
earner‟s self-confidence can be proportional to their level of PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI
autonomy. A good language learner tends to have the confidence to take responsibility for their own learning progress Rubin and Thompson,
1982, in Brown 2007. d. Intrinsic motivation
Intrinsic motivation to communicate in second language is likely to enhance
learner‟s learning experiences Skehan, 2001, in Candlin and Mercer 2001
. Brown stated that ‟intrinsic and extrinsic factors can be easily identified‟ and that a teachers „ultimate quest‟ is to „harness the
power of intrinsicall y motivated learners‟ 2007.
e. Cooperative learning skills A good language learner, commonly through group activities or
pair work, tends to produce comprehensible second language with their language learning peers Brown, 2007.
f. Right-brain processes A good language learner tends to utilise right-brain processes in
order to communicate at a level beyond their current metalinguistic knowledge. Right-brain processes may help the learner comprehend
whole chunks of the target language as well as help the learner reproduce the „melody‟ of the target language when they speak Brown, 2007.
g. High ambiguity tolerance A good language learner tends to not feel overwhelmed by
ambiguity, rather they regard ambiguity as an opportunity to seek clarification and to understand more about the different communication
aspects of the target language Brown, 2007; Lightbown and Spada, PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI
2006. h. Intuition
A good language learner tends to use their intuition to understand the contents and contexts of the target language. The learner‟s intuition is
used to compensate for what they have not learnt about the target language Brown, 2007.
i. Error feedback processing skills A good language learner tends to learn the target language,
including pragmatics, through a process of assessing their own trails and errors Brown, 2007.
j. Personal goals A good language learner tends to be clear about what they want to
accomplish Rubin and Thompson, 1982, in Brown 2007. Also, „successful language learners tend to take charge of their own attainment,
proactively seeking means fo r acquisition‟ Brown, 2007.