Attitudes toward Language Learning and Success in Language Learning: Probing the Would-be Bonds in the Light of Gender

Probing attitudes toward language learning has turned to one of the most interesting research areas in recent decades. The current study was an attempt to investigate the relationship between male and female EFL learners’ beliefs toward language learning and their success in learning English. At the outset of the study, four homogenous intact intermediate female and male classes, totaling 96 students (2 female classes, N= 23 in each, and 2 male ones, N= 25 in each) were selected. The instruments used in the study were Horwitz’s (1987) Beliefs about Foreign Language Learning Inventory (BALLI), and an in-house achievement test administered at the end of the term. Successive to filling out the Likert-type questionnaire (which took about 30 minutes), all participants took the achievement test at the end of the semester, and this way, their attitudes toward learning language and their success on the test were measured and compared. Based on the findings of Pearson Product correlation coefficient, there was a strong positive association between EFL learners’ beliefs toward language learning and their success in learning English across gender. Moreover, an independent samples t-test indicated that females were more successful than males and had more positive attitudes toward language learning. The implications are discussed in terms of enhancing EFL learners’ positive attitudes and beliefs toward language learning in EFL contexts.