This paper explores Japanese primary school age EFL learners’ beliefs regarding their linguistic self-confidence. Following a week-long exchange with group of similarly-aged students from the United Kingdom who visited their classroom, most students indicated that their self-confidence for learning and using English was higher, but not in all cases.
The issue of learner self-confidence in L2 learning has been widely recognized and discussed among teachers and students, but the real nature of the phenomenon has not been fully described yet, especially in the ways that are particularly relevant to specific L2 learning contexts. L2 self-confidence and its related constructs (e.g., self- efficacy, self-concept, self-esteem, or locus of control) have been investigated in recent studies on language learning motivation (Dornyei, 1994; Clement, Dornyei, & Noels, 1994; Oxford & Shearinhan, 1994; Crookes & Schmidt, 1991), yet research into the self-confidence beliefs of Japanese primary school students has been limited. In this study, 107 Japanese students studying English as a Foreign Language in a private school in Yokohama were surveyed following a week-long exchange with students from the United Kingdom. In the exchange, the Japanese students (aged 11 to 12) had several chances to engage in authentic communication in personal conversations with the UK students as part of their English for Global Communication curriculum. Following the exchange, the students were given a survey focusing on their perceptions of self-confidence in their own language learning and English abilities. Almost all students indicated that they felt the authentic communication opportunities with the UK students led to a strengthening of their self-confidence. On the other hand, some students also noted that their own linguistic self-confidence weakened, feeling that other students were more capable at communicating than themselves, or that they felt they could not enjoy the communication due to a high level of anxiety. In the presentation, the main factors the learners referred to in terms of their self-confidence will be explained with quotations. Some pedagogical implications will also be discussed in terms of how primary school EFL instructors can help their students develop a robust self-confidence and self-image of their own second language development.
