Investigating Bangladeshi Undergraduate ESL Learners' Beliefs about Language Learning

The paper reports on a study which investigated the language learning beliefs of undergraduate ESL learners in Bangladesh. The objectives of the study were to identify the most commonly held beliefs about learning English and any significant differences in learners ' beliefs in relation to their gender and self-reported personality types: extroversion and introversion. The instrument employed in this study was a modified version of Horwitz's (1987) BALLI (Beliefs About Language Learning Inventory), a five-point Likert Scale questionnaire. The results showed that the beliefs about learning vocabulary, repetition and practice, better job opportunities, and self- confidence in future achievement were the most commonly reported beliefs by the student population in the survey. The independent-samples t test results showed only two significant differences (p<O.05) between male and female learners' beliefs about possessing special ability for learning English and girls as better language learners than boys. On the other hand, significant differences (p<O .05) between extroverts and introverts were found in five areas: enjoying learning English, enjoying speaking English with others, countrymen's ability to learn English, English as an international language, and learning English spending one hour a day. In all these items the extroverts scored higher than the introverts.