Abstract

DIAZ LARENAS, Claudio  and  MORALES CAMPOS, Helga. Primary School Students' Beliefs on the Learning of English in a Chilean School. Rev. Actual. Investig. Educ [online]. 2015, vol.15, n.1, pp.303-323. ISSN 1409-4703.

This paper aims at identifying the beliefs about English teaching and learning held by four groups of primary students- fifth, sixth, seventh and eighth graders- from a semi-public school in Chile. Through the focus group technique, eighty-four students are interviewed, using as a framework the questions provided by the Language Learning Belief Inventory. The data from the four focus groups are interpreted by the semantic content analysis technique, that results into five categories and seven sub-categories related to English learning, graders' expectations, language relevance, and participants' motivation and anxiety. The results reveal that the different types of students' beliefs are tightly connected to their previous learning experiences. Fifth and sixth graders are much more positive about the role and use of English in present society, whereas seventh and eighth graders are clearly much critical of their English lessons and negative learning experiences they have had about English.

Keywords : beliefs; english; learning; primary education; Chile.

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