Pre-service teachers’ beliefs about language learning and communication strategies: does language proficiency make a difference?

This study examined pre-service teachers’ beliefs about language learning and communication strategies in the process of acquiring English as an additional language. Two groups of participants from a Spanish university’s School of Education (n = 50) completed the Horwitz (1985) Beliefs About Language Learning Inventory (BALLI). The bilingual group, which primarily received instruction through English, was compared with the non-bilingual group, which was predominantly trained in Spanish (their first language). After administering the t-test, differences were found between both groups in their beliefs on learning and communication strategies although they were not statistically significant. Since learning strategies play a key role in language learning, both in reception and production processes, these findings suggest that both groups (particularly the non-bilingual group, which had a significantly lower study load during their degree programme) may benefit from explicit instruction on communication strategies to promote awareness of the effectiveness of these strategies. In addition, such instruction might lead to improvements in their future experience as foreign language teachers.