大学2年生が考える英語力向上および低下の理由

Previous studies (Mori,2008,2009) revealed that the majority of the first year university students felt that their English had declined or not changed and attributed absences of improvement to internal factors such as lack of ability, interest and effort. On the other hand,across proficiency levels,those who mentioned their English had improved had a tendency to give external factors, especially their teachers, credit. The purpose of the present study is to see whether similar tendencies can be found with second year university students at the same institution. Specifically, this study attempted to answer the following research questions: 1) How second year university students perceive their improvement in English ability after one year of instruction;2 ) whether there is any relationship between students' perception of improvement and their actual gain scores on the TOEIC; 3) whether proficiency and teacher factors play any part in the development of students' perceived improvement; 4) to what students attribute their improvement and absences of improvement; 5) whether there is any relationship between their attributional beliefs and proficiency; and 6) whether there is any relationship between their attributional beliefs and gain scores on TOEIC