Students? attitudes towards learning English grammar: A study of scale development

Abstract

Learning a language means not only studying four skills of proficiency, but also understanding the system of rules underlying. In this respect, learners? attitudes towards grammar are also of vital importance. The main objective of this descriptive study is to determine English language learners? attitudes towards grammar and to analyze these attitudes in the framework of several variables (gender, age, faculty, time spent on learning English, and proficiency level). The data were collected from 293 students who have English language education in preparatory school of Anadolu University in six different proficiency levels (beginner, elementary, preintermediate, intermediate, upper-intermediate, pre-faculty) during 2014-2015 spring semester. The scale designed by the researchers to investigate the attitudes of learners towards learning grammar was determined as a reliable and valid tool including two factors. The analyses revealed that gender, age, time spent on learning English, and proficiency level variables did not create significant differences in the attitudes (p>.05) The only variable which created significant difference in the attitudes of learners was the faculties of students, and this was observed in the “Positive Attitude and Contribution” factor of the scale (p<.05). The results of the study indicated that students in faculties like Science, Humanities, Education, and Engineering have more positive attitudes towards learning grammar than Economics, Business Administration, and Communication faculty students

Learning a language means not only studying four skills of proficiency, but also understanding the system of rules underlying. In this respect, learners? attitudes towards grammar are also of vital importance. The main objective of this descriptive study is to determine English language learners? attitudes towards grammar and to analyze these attitudes in the framework of several variables (gender, age, faculty, time spent on learning English, and proficiency level). The data were collected from 293 students who have English language education in preparatory school of Anadolu University in six different proficiency levels (beginner, elementary, preintermediate, intermediate, upper-intermediate, pre-faculty) during 2014-2015 spring semester. The scale designed by the researchers to investigate the attitudes of learners towards learning grammar was determined as a reliable and valid tool including two factors. The analyses revealed that gender, age, time spent on learning English, and proficiency level variables did not create significant differences in the attitudes (p>.05) The only variable which created significant difference in the attitudes of learners was the faculties of students, and this was observed in the “Positive Attitude and Contribution” factor of the scale (p<.05). The results of the study indicated that students in faculties like Science, Humanities, Education, and Engineering have more positive attitudes towards learning grammar than Economics, Business Administration, and Communication faculty students. © 2015 JLLS and the Authors - Published by JLLS