An Analysis of Pakistani ESL Learners’ L2 Learning Beliefs

Abstract

This paper studies the foreign/second language (L2) learning beliefs of Pakistani students of English. Using Horwitz’s Beliefs About Language Learning Inventory (BALLI), data were collected from 183 undergraduate students of arts and humanities through a random sampling technique. The analysis involved both descriptive and inferential statistics. The results indicate that Pakistani students generally hold positive beliefs about L2 learning. They were also found to associate most significance with beliefs related to motivation and expectations, and least to those of L2 aptitude. Moreover, they also showed gender-based variations in their beliefs about L2 learning in two out of five categories of L2 beliefs; namely, the difficulty of L2 learning, and the nature of L2 learning. Based on the findings of the study, implications were suggested to improve English language pedagogical practices in the Pakistani context.