Cultural and situational influences on foreign language learners' beliefs about language learning: a review of BALLI studies

Understanding learner beliefs about language learning is essential to understanding learner strategies and planning appropriate language instruction; however, to date there has been no examination of how these beliefs may differ across learner groups. This paper reviews representative studies (including American learners of French, Spanish, German, and Japanese, US university instructors of French, and Korean, Taiwanese, and Turkish heritage English as a Foreign Language English [EFL] students) using the “Beliefs about Language Learning Inventory (BALLI)” to identify similarities and differences across cultural groups. Although instances of differing beliefs between and among the American, Korean, and Turkish heritage groups were identified, an examination of the responses to individual BALLI items did not yield clear-cut cultural differences in beliefs. The differences between the instructors of French and American learners suggest that beliefs may vary based on age, stage of learning, and professional status. Several of the differences identified in the various American groups and the two groups of Korean and Turkish heritage learners may be more clearly attributable to differences in learning circumstances than culture.