The Beliefs of Self-Identified Successful Learners of Spanish at the University Level

The purpose of the study was to gain insight into the beliefs of self-identified successful learners of Spanish as a foreign language at a Canadian university. Data collection for the case study relied on the Beliefs About Language Learning Inventory or BALLI (Horwitz, 1988) in combination with an online discussion and individual online interviews. Descriptive profiles of individual participants' beliefs as well as cross-case analysis and comparisons with the literature highlighted the importance of beliefs related to informal opportunities for learning in authentic contexts such as through interactions with native speakers and the target culture. Implications for teaching Spanish include providing opportunities for authentic language practice and access to the target culture. Future studies might compare learning French and Spanish in Canadian contexts