Exploring the changes in Turkish university students' language learning beliefs as a result of 'Erasmus student mobility for studies programme'

This mixed method study described Turkish EFL university students' beliefs about language learning before and after the Erasmus Student Mobility for Studies (SMS) programme. It focused on the language learning beliefs they held before and after becoming an Erasmus student in a non-English speaking European country for fourteen weeks, and then compared the results to find whether there was a significant change. In order to explore learners' beliefs about language learning, data were collected using a 34-item Likert-Type scale (Horwitz's BALLI - Beliefs about Language Learning Inventory), translated and modified for the Turkish EFL students. The Inventory was distributed to 102 university students before and after the fourteen-week Erasmus SMS programme. Eleven students were interviewed upon returning to their home country in order to gain deeper understanding of the process they went through during the Erasmus SMS programme. The quantitative data were analysed by using a Paired Sample T-Test. Data derived from the interviews was analysed by following coding procedures. The results from the analysis of interview data were displayed in percentages. The quantitative and qualitative results of this study have revealed that students begin the Erasmus SMS programme with already developed beliefs regarding language learning and significant change was observed in some of their beliefs about language learning after completing the Erasmus SMS programme. Beliefs that significantly changed were specifically concerning structural difference between English and Turkish, importance of grammar in language learning, being self-conscious speaking in front of others, fear of making mistakes and opportunities to use English. The findings also have shown that Turkish exchange students' overall beliefs remained almost the same after the Erasmus SMS programme, which suggests that short-time periods spent abroad might not result in significant changes in students' beliefs. Keywords: Constructivism, beliefs about language learning, lifelong learning programme, erasmus student mobility for studies, study abroad.