Ideaciones de estudiantes universitarios alemanes sobre su proceso de aprendizaje del español como lengua extranjera ante una enseñanza mediante tareas

In this thesis learners' beliefs about language learning are investigated as factors that strongly influence the learner's perception of his own learning process and how he approaches his learning. This is specially relevant in communicative learner-centred language teaching. The study focuses on the concept of belief as a factor in the individual learner, but also as the result of a certain classroom culture.The subjects of this investigation are German students learning Spanish at university. They are confronted with a new approach for them: task-based teaching.The main research question is:How do the beliefs of adult language learners about language learning dovetail with each other in a situation of methodological change?This study is underpinned by the ethnographic approach, as its main aim is to understand and interpret emerging data from an emic perspective. Data material consists of students' learning journals and ethnographical interviews. In order to get more information about the "pedagogical climate" of language teaching , interviews with German secondary education teachers were also conducted.The results of this research work suggest that German university students of Spanish learn with communication as their main goal. They prefer an active learning approach in which they have to get personally involved. They perceive language learning as having two pillars: grammar and communication. As a result of their previous language learning experience at school, these learners "see" their language learning through "grammar-tinted spectacles". Nevertheless, they have an intuition that although grammar is a means of communication, it cannot be the core of it.This study confirms previous research on the role of the affective dimension in language learning. The teacher plays a crucial role: on the one hand, he is a very important source of motivation for the learners and, on the other, his professional practice can counteract any potential anxiety factors.As a main implication of this study, the necessity for language teachers to create optimal learning conditions for their learners has to be emphasized.