چکیده:
Burundi is the sole country in East African Community (EAC) using mainly
French as an official language and having a national language – Kirundi –
which is shared by nearly all Burundians. Therefore, English language is
taught as a subject on the curriculum. Although English language is even
taught to science university students in Burundi, it seems that the attitudes
these students have towards learning English are not known. Thus, the
present study was intended to investigate the attitudes that University of
Burundi pure sciences students hold towards learning English. In doing so,
it also examined whether there is a statistically significant difference in these
students’ attitudes in terms of gender and field of study. This study adopted
a quantitative approach, hence a survey research design. The data were
collected by means of a five-point Likert scale questionnaire raging from
‘strongly disagree’ to ‘strongly agree’ that was administered to a total
number of 65 students enrolled in the faculty of sciences. The questionnaire
was based on the tripartite model of attitude and consisted of 40 items. The
collected data were analysed by means of descriptive and inferential statistics
that were computed using the statistical package SPSS 22.The findings
revealed that the afore-mentioned students have overall positive attitudes
towards learning English. An analysis of the results also indicated that there
is no statistically significant difference in students’ attitudes both by gender
and by field of study.
خلاصه ماشینی:
Thus, the present study was intended to investigate the attitudes that University of Burundi pure sciences students hold towards learning English.
Keywords: attitudes, English language learning, pure sciences students, tripartite model 1 {مراجعه شود به فایل جدول الحاقی} 1.
In a number of studies, the concept of attitude in language learning usually goes hand in hand with that of motivation (Dörnyei, Csizér & Németh, 2006; Oroujlou & Vahedi, 2011; Stegmann, 2014; Ushida, 2005; Yu &Watkins, 2010).
The results of their studies indicate that students have positive attitudes towards learning English.
The same results (positive attitudes towards learning English) are reported in the studies of Martinović and Poljaković (2011) and of Soleimani and Hanafi (2013).
Regarding the second research question, the analysis of the results from the independent samples T-test showed that the attitudes of male students towards learning English is not statistically significantly different from that of female students.
7. Conclusion This study set out to investigate pure sciences students’ attitudes towards learning English at the University of Burundi.
It can be argued that the positive attitude of pure sciences students at the University of Burundi stems from the integration of Burundi in EAC and the students’ growing awareness of the rising role and status of English language worldwide.
EFL students’ attitudes toward learning English language: The case study of Kashan University students.
A study of the attitudes and motivational orientations of Pakistani learners toward the learning of English as a second language.