International Teacher Education Conference 2014 1

International Teacher Education Conference 2014
English language easily” (UKM = 3.6; SHU= 3.53). Although there were no significant differences between the
two university students, both groups seemed to encounter difficulty writing in another language and translating
from their mother tongue into the English language.
To answer RQ2: “Is there a significant difference between the male and female non-native speakers with
respect to language learning attitudes and academic skills?”, t-test for was conducted to compare differences
between male and female students with respect to the mentioned aspects. Under L2 learning attitudes, fourteen
items were analyzed (refer to Table 3).
Table 3: English Language Learning Attitudes
No. Question Items Male Female p-value
1. I define being successful for my English language course as an
A scale. 2.22 2.28 .735
2. I want to learn the English language. 2.45 2.03 .009*
3. I feel I should have studied harder for my English language
courses. 2.27 2.17 .404
4. I feel I have spent too much time studying for my English
language courses. 3.68 3.51 .257
5. I feel my attention wanders more easily in my English
language course than my other courses. 3.51 3.55 .807
6. I feel I fall asleep more easily in my English language course
than my other courses. 3.39 3.82 .011*
7. I am more easily distracted when I study an English language
course than my other courses. 3.59 3.36 .175
8. I have not gotten nervous and tense when studying for my
English language course. 2.55 3.18 .001*
9. I do not worry about my English language course. 2.95 3.39 .016*
10. I feel anxious about my English language exams. 3.19 2.9 .121
11. I feel nervous and afraid about participating in class discussion
during my English language course. 2.86 2.6 .178
12. I do not feel capable of studying my English language course.
3.53 3.46 .699
13. I feel that I am not in control of my grades in my English
language course. 3.24 3.31 .698
14. I will never be successful in an English language course.
3.99 4.2 .249
(* indicates significance)
The four items that indicated statistically significant differences of mean scores between the males and
females are: (i) “I want to learn the English language” (male = 2.45; female = 2.03); (ii) “fall asleep more easily
in my English language course” (male = 3.39; female = 3.82); (iii) “I have not gotten nervous and tense when
studying for my English language course (male = 2.55; female = 3.18) and (iv) “I do not worry about my
English language course” (male = 2.95; female = 3.39). It can be seen that the males showed higher agreement
than females about wanting to learn the English language. In terms of attention, the males tended to show lack of
attention during target language learning. The females disagreed more towards not being nervous and tense and
therefore seemed to experience more anxiety. In addition, the females seemed to be worried more about their L2
learning than the males. The other ten items that showed no significant differences are: (i) “being successful in
my English language course is an ‘A’ scale”, (male = 2.22; female = 2.28); (ii) “should have studied harder for
my English language course” (male = 2.27; female = 2.17); (ii) “spent too much time studying for my English
language” (male = 3.68; female = 3.51); (iv) “I feel my attention wanders more easily in my English language
course” (male = 3.51; female = 3.55); (v) “easily distracted when I study an English language course” (male =
3.59; female = 3.36); (vi) “I feel anxious about English language exams” (male = 3.19; female = 2.9); (vii) “I
feel nervous and afraid about participating in class discussion during my English language course” (male = 2.86;
female = 2.6); (viii) “I do not feel capable of studying for my English language course” (male = 3.53; female =
3.46); (ix) “I am not in control of my grades” (male = 3.24; female = 3.31); and (x) “I will never be successful in
an English language course” (male = 3.99; female = 4.2).
As shown in Table 4, for L2 academic skills, nine items were analyzed.
Table 4: English Language Academic Skills
No. Question Items Male Female p-value
1. I learn the rules of grammar in my English language easily.
3.86 3.14 .000*
2. I learn the vocabulary of the English language easily.
2.92 2.71 .222
3. I have difficulty spelling words in the English language.
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