International students' attitudes toward L2-English classroom activities and language skills in the USA

Pedagogical proponents of both communicative language teaching and the postmethod philosophy argue for the importance of considering learners' needs in classroom planning. This requires understanding learners' attitudes toward a variety of classroom realities. The present study reports on the attitudes of 131 adult, international learners of English, studying English for 20 hours a week in a US-based Intensive English Program. To investigate these learners' attitudes for classroom activities, I administered a questionnaire designed to measure attitudes toward various reading, writing, listening, speaking, and grammar activities. Factor analysis of the responses revealed four components: explicit grammar instruction activities, personal entertainment listening activities, interactive listening-speaking activities, and literacy activities. Learners across ages, genders, and course levels were largely homogeneous in their preferences for listening-speaking activities, and on several measures, learners reported liking listening or speaking activities more than writing activities; however, there were differences in preferences for literacy and explicit grammar activities. I argue that preferences concerning instructional activities can be explained based on learners' backgrounds, current learning context, and proficiency levels. In order to support the autonomy of learners while expanding their capabilities, educators should seek to understand and capitalize on learners' preferences.