The relationship between university students' epistemological and foreign language learning beliefs

In this study, the relationship between epistemological and foreign language learning beliefs of university students in a Turkish university context was investigated. The study also analysed the students' beliefs regarding gender and field of study variables. In this regard, 157 males and 145 female freshmen studying at Şırnak University participated in the study. To collect data, the EBQ and the BALLI questionnaires and interviews were used. Descriptive statistics, frequencies, means, independent sample t-test to reveal the differences between the variables, and Pearson correlations were used to analyse the relationship between the participants' epistemological and FLL beliefs, while coding and content-analysis techniques utilized to analyse qualitative data. The results revealed that university students had sophisticated epistemological beliefs in terms of learning depends on effort and ability dimensions of the EBQ, while they were uncertain about one single truth dimension. The study also revealed that the participants held various beliefs related to foreign language learning. There was a significant and slight relationship between students' epistemological and FLL beliefs. The students' epistemological beliefs differed slightly regarding learning depends on ability dimension of the EBQ in favour of females, but they did not differ in terms of their FLL beliefs. The students of social science had more sophisticated beliefs in terms of learning depends on effort and ability dimensions than the students of hard science, but they had similar beliefs concerning one single truth dimension of the EBQ. Their beliefs only differed in terms of the nature of language learning dimension of the BALLI.