Professor Rod Ellis
University of Auckland, N.Z.
Plenary Address

Learner Beliefs and Language Learning
Language learners form ‘mini theories’ of what it means to learn an L2 that shape the way they set about the learning task. These theories are made up of beliefs about language and language learning. These beliefs are dynamic and situated rather than stable and trait-like. In order to explore how learner beliefs evolve in accordance with context and how they influence the way learners set about learning an L2 and the actual learning that occurs, this paper will examine a number of case studies of L2 learners.

One study uses metaphor analysis to explore the conceptions that a group of young adult learners of German as a foreign language held about learning (Ellis 2002). Another study examined a group of Japanese learners who had come to Auckland to study English as a second language (Tanaka 2004). A third study examined one Chinese learner as a second language (Zhong 2008). All three studies show that learners’ belief systems are complex and unstable, especially when the learners find themselves confronted by a new learning context. They also suggest that the relationship between beliefs and learning is an indirect rather than a direct one as, for a variety of reasons, learners do not always act on their beliefs.

Presenter
Rod Ellis is currently Professor in the Department of Applied Language Studies and Linguistics, University of Auckland, where he teaches postgraduate courses on second language acquisition, individual differences in language learning and task-based teaching. He is also a professor in the MA in TESOL program in Anaheim University and a visiting professor at Shanghai International Studies University (SISU) as part of China’s Chang Jiang Scholars Program.

His published work includes articles and books on second language acquisition, language teaching and teacher education. His books include Understanding Second Language Acquisition (BAAL Prize 1986) and The Study of Second Language Acquisition (Duke of Edinburgh prize 1995). More recently, Task-Based Learning and Teaching early (2003), Analyzing Learner Language (with Gary Barkhuizen) in (2005) and a second edition of The Study of Second Language Acquisition (2008) were published by Oxford University Press. He has also published several English language textbooks, including Impact Grammar (Pearson: Longman). He is also currently editor of the journal Language Teaching Research. He has worked in schools in Spain and Zambia and in universities in the United Kingdom, Japan and the United States. He has also conducted numerous consultancies and seminars throughout the world.

Rod Ellis is the Senior Advisor to the Asian EFL Journal