Thesis (MA) - Cyprus International University. Institute of Graduate Studies and Research English Language Teaching Department

Includes bibliography (sheets 61-65)

ABSTRACT Attitude is a certain way of feeling or thinking about a person or something, and it is always a positive or negative attitude. A positive attitude yields good results whereas a negative attitude results in failure. Attitude is regarded as an essential factor affecting the performance of language and constructs that describe linguistic conduct in particular. This research study aimed at exploring the attitudes of male and female undergraduate students towards learning English language as well as their age and country of origin with regards to their behavioral, cognitive, and emotional aspects. A five-point Likert-type questionnaire that involve 30 question items was administered, and 145 participants were consciously selected. Results of the findings revealed that the students have a positive attitude towards English in their behavioral, emotional, and cognitive aspects. The participants are all students from the University of Buea, Cameroon. The current study examined the attitudinal attitudes of the students of the university of Buea regarding learning English as a second language in terms of their age groups, gender, year of study as well as their departments. The overall findings revealed that the students have a positive attitude towards learning English. There was no statistically significant difference in the attitudes of students in aspects of their age, gender, and department in their behavioral, emotional, and cognitive attitudes. It was determined that there is a significant difference in the year of study in their behavioral aspect but there is a statistically significant difference in the cognitive and emotional aspects of their attitudes.