beliefs about language learning current knowledge, pedagogical implications and new research directions教材.pdf

June 2005 Volume 9, Number 1 Contents | TESL-EJ Top Beliefs about Language Learning: Current Knowledge, Pedagogical Implications, and New Research Directions Eva Bernat Eva.Bernat .au Department of Linguistics Macquarie University, Sydney Inna Gvozdenko i.gvozdenko .au Department of Language, Literacy and Arts Education The University of Melbourne Abstract This paper argues for an interdisciplinary approach to beliefs about language learning research, and suggests that current studies in this area do not go far enough to examine the extent to which stable factors, such as individual learner differences, account for the nature of beliefs. Next, it elucidates how cognitive and personality psychology provides a foundation for a possible relationship between learner beliefs and personality, and emphasizes the need for further research and a strong theoretical foundation before any attempts to change language learners beliefs are made in the classroom context. Introduction Beliefs are a central construct in every discipline that deals with human behavior and learning (Fishbein Ajzen, 1975; Ajzen, 1988). In one sense, beliefs--or personal myths about learning--do not differ from the majority of myths about the human race, nor do they differ from those of the majority of psychologists and educators. Bruner, Piaget, Rogers, Socrates, and Kelly hold myths about learning, and the controversy about the relative merits of their myths has hidden the more interesting congruence that each student constructs a viable myth of their own (Harri-Augstein, 1985). In the classroom context, the perceptions, beliefs, attitudes, and met