Exploring Physics English Prep Students’ Approach to Foreign Language Learning

Abstract

The present study explores Physics English Prep students’ language beliefs and approaches to different aspects of language learning in an attempt to account for plausible reasons for their relatively failure in mastering English as a university requirement prior to their subject education. Given the fact the Physics students were observed to be relatively unsuccessful at the end of a-six month intensive English preparation program as evidenced by the department’s yearly academic report (only 11% passed the English prep program), learners’ beliefs systems were chosen to be an important factor as they were assumed to affect language behavior and language learning in general in many ways. One specific outcome of the overall findings is that learners appear to hold a range of beliefs with varying degrees and these beliefs can influence the student’s language learning strategies and ultimate success.
The findings also yield certain pedagogic implications that making students’ belief systems explicit may also sensitize us to the variety of notions students hold and to the possible consequences of specific beliefs for learning or not learning a foreign language.