Attitude of Iranian Graduate Students toward English: A Case Study

Over the past several decades there has been a growing interest in learning the English language in colleges and universities throughout Iran. However, the real reasons for college students choosing English as a major do not seem to be clear. The researcher felt the need to investigate such reasons as well as describe the attitudes that students have towards learning English and how these attitudes might impact the outcomes of the learning process. The purpose of this paper is to determine what motivations and attitudes college students in Iran have towards learning English as a foreign language (EFL). There were 45 male and female university students involved in this project studying English at Islamic Azad University, Neyshabur Branch, Faculty of Letters and Humanities. The students were asked to explain why they wished to become English teachers. Notes were taken during these interviews and the responses were recorded. A student survey was designed and distributed to all 45 students at the faculty and detailed instructions were given. The students' reasons for studying English revealed a wide array of attitudes and motivations. Surprisingly, almost half of the students exhibited negative attitudes towards learning English and entering the teaching profession. Other students demonstrated more positive attitudes.

Journal of Modern Research in English Language Studies, 2018

Attitudes towards learning and teaching a subject play a major role in determining individuals' success or failure in any educational programme. Hence, this paper delves into the attitudes of university and non-university students towards teaching/ learning English in Iran. To this end, thirteen MA and forty-three BA students majoring in English, twenty-nine non-university students attending language institutes, and twenty-nine university students majoring in a field other than English were recruited to participate in the study. they were both male and female and were requested to complete a-five point Likert-scale attitudes towards teaching/ learning English questionnaire. The analysis of elicited data indicated that overall students had positive attitudes towards teaching/ learning English. t-test analyses revealed no significant difference neither between males and females nor among different age groups and nor between non-English majors and other groups in terms of their attitudes towards teaching/ learning English. The paper concludes that paying attention to students" attitudes towards the subject being taught/learnt is of utmost importance. It also highlights the usefulness of such research for every teaching/learning context. The results can be used in a wide range of contexts from the very stage of designing to the final evaluation stage of programme design and implementation. Further findings and implications are discussed in the paper.

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Changing English: Studies in Culture and Education, 2018

While English is embraced worldwide as a global means of communication, its teaching and learning is a contested arena of contacts between the so-called English native-speaker culture and local learner cultures. In this study we investigate Iranian university students' viewpoints on the necessity and justifications for learning English and their awareness of international policies of promoting this language. A group of 855 male and female students of different fields of study at six major universities of Tehran responded to a researcher-made questionnaire and 28 participants were interviewed for more in-depth explanations about their standpoints. The findings indicate that the participants are in absolute favor of learning the English language as an undeniable necessity as a multifaceted communicative instrument. Moreover, there seems to be limited sensitivity to the potential sociopolitical functioning of English and the policies and plans for promoting the teaching and learning of this language around the world.

The use of English for instruction at the tertiary level of education by nations whose native language is not English has been the subject of considerable debate. This study aims to survey the attitudes of a group of Iranian university teachers at a state university in central Iran towards the possible use of English as a medium of instruction (EMI) in Iranian higher education, where Persian is currently the medium of instruction except in English language departments. It also explores whether teachers' attitude towards EMI is affected by their university rank. To this end, 60 teachers were randomly selected from faculties of Humanities, Science, and Engineering, and their perceptions about EMI were explored through questionnaires and interviews. The findings indicated that, in spite of the current emphasis on Persian by authorities, teachers valued English over Persian as the medium of instruction, expressing concerns mainly about inadequacies in resources and English proficiency requirements. Interview results showed that their opinions were divided as they enumerated a variety of economic, academic, cultural, social, and technological reasons both for and against the possible use of EMI at Iranian tertiary levels. The results imply that concerns over the launch of new curricula using EMI are multidimensional. Possible suggestions for future research on EMI are discussed.

Changing English, 2018

While English is embraced worldwide as a global means of communication, its teaching and learning is a contested arena of contacts between the so-called English native-speaker culture and local learner cultures. In this study, we investigate Iranian university students' viewpoints on the necessity and justifications for learning English and their awareness of international policies of promoting this language. A group of 855 male and female students of different fields of study at six major universities of Tehran responded to a researcher-made questionnaire and 28 participants were interviewed for more in-depth explanations about their standpoints. The findings indicate that the participants are in absolute favour of learning the English language as an undeniable necessity as a multifaceted communicative instrument. Moreover, they seem to have limited sensitivity to the potential sociopolitical functioning of English and the policies and plans for promoting the teaching and learning of this language around the world.

2013

Beliefs are “general assumptions that students hold about themselves as learners, about factors influencing language learning, and about the nature of language learning and teaching” (Victori & Lockhart 1995, P.224).Language learners’ beliefs lead their actions, particularly in the process of learning. Learners’ beliefs can help teachers to have a better understanding of the learners’ learning process and their success in classrooms. According to Horwitz (1988), “ knowledge of students’ beliefs about language learning may provide teachers of languages with a better understanding of their students’ expectations of, commitment to, success in and satisfactions with language classes” ( Horwitz, 1988 : 283). Although, there have been many studies on the notion of beliefs about language learning so far, yet very few of them explored Iranian students’ beliefs about English language learning. In an attempt to fill this gap, this research was conducted to find out: 1) What are Iranian postgr...

The undergraduate level students in the Kingdom of Bahrain have problems in the acquisition of English as a second language. Most of the Bahraini students, who have spent ample years of learning English (from junior to secondary school), fail to acquire an expected level of proficiency in English when they enroll into the University for higher education. As a result, they are not easily absorbed by the global market. Aim: The aim of this study was to identify the Bahraini students' attitude towards learning English as a foreign/second language in the university which in turn can help in devising the ways and means to bring in the necessary changes to achieve the expected level of proficiency. Material & Method: The samples consist of 50 randomly selected Kingdom University students of College of Business Administration and College of Architectural Engineering & Interior Design. The survey handout is not a questionnaire but a series of statements with a choice of fixed five different responses. It mainly consists of three parts. The first part has 12 statements based on the reasons for learning English; second part has 12 based on how the students feel about English lessons and the third part has 6 statements to analyze how the students feel about learning English. Results & Discussions: The analyses of Parts A, B & C encapsulate that the students are aware of the usefulness of English and feel that the activities they are engaged with during the English classes to be beneficial and are contented with the progress they have been making since their school is in the acquisition of the proficiency of English language. Now, the question arises whether the students are achieving the expected level of proficiency, when they enroll into the university. Thus, this study lays the scope to identify the gap between the school level curriculum and college level expected frame of reference which is to be addressed by the educationists seriously as the findings portray a positive attitude towards English learning from the prospective graduators.

Current Issues in Education, 2014

This study was an attempt to explore the potential possibilities of implementing English as the medium of instruction (EMI) at Iranian universities. The sequential exploratory mixed methods design was used to collect the perspectives of both students and contentarea lecturers at the state University of Bojnord through e-mail interviews and survey questionnaires developed by the researcher. The reliability of the survey questionnaire was 0.76 using Cronbach's alpha. Six undergraduate students and six lecturers were purposively selected for the interviews. As for the survey questionnaire, stratified random sampling was used to proportionately select 344 students (320 undergraduate students and 24 postgraduate students) and 36 lecturers from the accessible population. The qualitative data from the interviews were content-analyzed based on the suggestions and guidelines by Creswell (2005), Krueger (2002), and Morgan and Krueger (1998). The quantitative data from the survey questionnaires were analyzed using Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS). The results revealed that most of the students and lecturers approved and supported the potential implementation of EMI at Iranian universities. The findings of this study will assist higher education authorities in policy making.

International Journal of Languages' Education and Teaching, 2018

This paper is aimed to obtain the data whether the variations such as gender, age, type of graduation, types of transition to higher education, education programs, and educational backgrounds of their parents have an effect on students’ learning process positively or negatively. The research focuses on English as there are no German courses at the relevant university. A questionnaire and open ended question were used for students attitudes towards learning English. The study consists of 264 students in total who study in Social and Technical Sciences Vocational High School in Ardahan University/Turkey, held on the 2017-18 Academic Year. The results indicated that students give importance to learning English; however, it is understood that there are some reasons why they are not satisfied with learning or eager to learn English. The underlying reasons contribute English lecturers on how to behave towards learners and what kind of methods they should use.