The Effects of Attribution Retraining on Foreign Language Learning
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.22364/BJELLC.02.2012.07Keywords:
foreign language learning, attribution style, attribution training, internal attribution, external attribution, success, failureAbstract
This paper elaborates on the role of attribution style in successful foreign language learning. Attribution style, frequently associated with motivation, is considered to belong to individual learner factors. Its type, either external or internal, determines learners’ attitudes to the reasons of their successes or failures. It is believed that appropriate attribution training may contribute to students’ development of more favourable attitudes to their progress (or lack of it) in language learning. The research reported in this paper presents an example of such retraining procedure. One group of 15-year-old secondary school students (36 subjects) underwent the retraining treatment and a significant improvement could be observed both in their perceptions of achievement and their progress in English. The study proved that adolescent learners can profit from attribution training in their perception of success in foreign language learning.
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