title: Testing the factor structure of the beliefs about language learning inventory.
abstract: This preliminary study examined the factor structure of the Beliefs About Language Learning Inventory in two samples of about 750 college students of English as a foreign language in Taiwan. Results of confirmatory factor analysis lend partial support to Horwitz's theoretical five-factor belief model. Subsequent exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses of data show that a four-factor model represented by only 12 items performed better than other models both theoretically and empirically. This model consists of two dimensions already theorized in the inventory: Difficulty of Language Learning and Foreign Language Aptitude, and two newly interpreted dimensions, Importance of Spoken Language and Analytical Approaches to Language Learning. Although this four-factor model could be replicated in an independent sample, the factors are not reliable, suggesting the need to search for a more representative set of beliefs to tap specific aspects of language learning.
authors.affiliation: Institute of Applied English, National Taiwan Ocean University, Keelung, ROC. tyhsiao@ntou.edu.tw
authors.forename: Tsung-Yuan
authors.initials: TY
authors.lastname: Hsiao
authors.forename: Steve
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Chiang
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D001076:Aptitude; D001290:Attitude; D005163:Factor Analysis, Statistical; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007600:Judgment; D008297:Male; D019303:Multilingualism; D010555:Personality Inventory / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D011594:Psychometrics / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D020377:Self Efficacy; D013334:Students / Q000523:psychology*; D014706:Verbal Learning; D055815:Young Adult