Žgela, Iva.
(2018).
Aspects of EFL Learners' Self-Concept Related to Language Aptitude.
Diploma Thesis. Filozofski fakultet u Zagrebu, Department of English Language and Literature.
[mentor Geld, Renata].
Abstract
The aim of this research was to investigate secondary school students‟ self-concepts in the foreign languages context, with the main focus on FL aptitude. Specifically, the aim of the research was to analyse to what extent students believe that they possess an innate „talent‟ for acquiring languages, and how they perceive themselves as language learners. Furthermore, the goal was to investigate the relationship between the beliefs of teachers and students about FL aptitude. In other words, the goal was to find out if there would be any differences between the way students perceive their FL aptitude and the way their teachers do. The study was conducted on nine secondary school students and two teachers. The data was collected using a questionnaire administered to the students. It consisted of three sections. The first focused on students‟ early childhood and personal information. The second section was conceived to investigate student‟s self-concept of primary and secondary school success, while the third concentrated on extra-curricular activities. Furthermore, the teachers‟ questionnaire served as an instrument for obtaining data about students‟ success in the particular subject and their attitude in the classroom. The results showed that there were differences between self-concepts of high-level-, intermediate-level- and low-level-proficiency students, as well as their beliefs about FL aptitude. In fact, high-level- and intermediate-level-proficiency students had more positive language learner self-concepts than low-level-proficiency students did. Also, high-level- and intermediate-level-proficiency students believed that they possessed FL aptitude when it comes to acquiring English language, whereas low-level-proficiency students did not share such belief about themselves. As for teachers, their answers overlapped with those obtained from students: high-level- and intermediate-level-proficiency students believed they were talented in acquiring foreign languages, while low-level-proficiency students claimed they did not possess FL aptitude.
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