Mismatches between Students

Mismatches between Students

The purpose of the present study is to explore the gap between teachers' and students' beliefs in language learning and to identify the relationship between belief mismatches and students' proficiency in language classroom A total of 213 participants completed a self-report questionnaire, including 174 university students in General English courses and 39 EFL teachers including the three instructors in charge of the courses. The students' responses in beliefs were compared with those of teachers and then with their achievement in each course. Beliefs were compared in five factors; (l) Importance in Language Learning; (2) Teacher Intervention; (3) Beliefs about Formal Learning; (4) Nature of Language Learning; and (5) Error-Tolerance. MANOV A yielded significant differences in belief factors across the three cohorts and between students and teachers. Correlation analyses exhibited students' responses in certain beliefs relate to students' proficiency within each course and that those beliefs generally contrast with teachers' beliefs. The findings suggest that teachers' beliefs may be interrelated with students' beliefs in affecting their proficiency.