This study aims to examinet he changesin students'p erceptionso f and attitudes towards learning English in a Malaysian college. Firstly, it aims to investigate how the attitudes of students towards learning English changes during the critical transition period from secondary school, where the medium of instruction is in Malay, to college, where the medium of instruction is English. Then, it examines students' perceptions of their English language classroom environment and teaching methodologies used, the relationship of students with their teachers in both secondary school and college. It also investigates their perceptions of the influence of home background on learning English. Finally, it considers the influence of teacher attitudes on students' attitudes towards learning English. The study focuses on 100 students enrolled in a first level English course during their first semester in Petra College (a pseudonym), and the lecturers teaching these students. Data for this study were collected by student's weekly journals and interviews with students and lecturers. Analysis of the data was done qualitatively using an interpretive approach. The aim of using this approach was to provide a view of the second language learning process that is focused on perceptions of the learners. The findings revealed that there was a difference in students' perceptions of and attitudes towards learning English in secondary school and in college. Students' attitudes towards learning English seemed more positive in college. The students perceived that the environment in college was more conducive for learning English, and they noticed difference between the strategies used by their secondary school teachers and college lecturers. The findings suggest that secondary school teachers used a more structured audio-lingual approach and were not empathetic towards their students' language needs. On the other hand, the lecturers in college used more cooperative and interactive approaches and were perceived to be more empathetic towards students' language needs. The home background of students seemed to considerably influence their perceptions and attitudes towards learning English as well. The implications from the study suggest that teaching methodologies, the classroom environment, the school social environment, and the family background could influence students' perceptions of and attitudes towards learning English.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:bl.uk/oai:ethos.bl.uk:288712 |
| Date | January 2003 |
| Creators | Choy, Siew Chee |
| Publisher | University of Exeter |
| Source Sets | Ethos UK |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Electronic Thesis or Dissertation |
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