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Table 1 Frequency of Participant Responses to BALLI items on Difficult of Language Learning

From: Epistemological beliefs and conceptions about language teaching and learning: a study of secondary school non-native learners and teachers of Mandarin Chinese in Zambia

 

1

2

3

4

5

M

SD

3. Some languages are easier to learn than others.

36(35%)

46(45%)

13(13%)

7(7%)

0(0%)

1.91

0.869

4. Mandarin Chinese is: 1 = a very difficult language; 2 = a difficult language; 3 = a language of medium difficulty; 4 = an easy language; 5 = a very easy language.

1(1%)

23(23%)

57(56%)

18(18%)

3(3%)

2.99

0.752

15. If someone spent 1 h a day learning a language, how long would it take them to speak the language very well: 1 = less than a year; 2 = 1–2 years; 3 = 3–5 years; 4 = 5–10 years; 5 = you can’t learn a language in 1 h per day

14(14%)

55(54%)

20(20%)

5(5%)

8(8%)

2.39

1.043

25. It is easier to speak than to understand a foreign language

7(7%)

23(23%)

33(32%)

25(25%)

14(14%)

3.16

1.132

34. It is easier to read and write Mandarin Chinese than to speak and understand it

7(7%)

18(18%)

31(30%)

32(31%)

14(14%)

2.73

1.121

  1. 1- Strongly Agree; 2- Agree; 3-Neither Agree nor Disagree; 4-Disagree; 5-Strongly Disagree; M Mean, SD Std Dev