Chinese High School Graduates’ Beliefs About English Learning

Abstract

This paper reports on an investigation of a cohort of Chinese high school graduates’ beliefs about English learning. A 24-item questionnaire is administered on 171 high school graduates to investigate their beliefs about the nature, difficulty, autonomy and learning environment in English learning. The data are analyzed through frequency statistics. Results show that Chinese high school graduates in general: 1) underestimate the difficulty of learning English; 2) expect communicative language teaching model; 3) demonstrate a high preference for an immersion approach; and 4) display a high degree of autonomy in English learning. The findings are beneficial for need analysis and provide guidance for curriculum design to the University in research and other similar contexts.
Key words: High school graduates; Beliefs about English learning; English learning experiences