Investigating learners’ beliefs about their (B)ELF online learning experiences using conceptualization analysis

The current study investigates learner beliefs (see Ellis, 2004) held by foreign language learners regarding their experience in learning Business English online. The study also aims at contributing to the search of conceptual understanding of English from the perspective of BELF users and learners of Business English. Drawing on conceptual metaphors, conceptualizations, and schemas as an analytical framework, the study analyses learner beliefs about the following concepts: ENGLISH and LEARNING A FOREIGN LANGUAGE ONLINE. The study used the data gathered from the online survey which was conducted for the study by Mendes de Oliveira et al. (2021) and which included discourse completion tasks (DCTs), in which participants had to respond to provided prompts (Sweeney & Hua, 2015), and one association task. In those tasks, respondents had to finish several statements, such as, e.g.,: "For me, learning a language online is like... because ..."; "If the foreign language were an object or an animal, it would be... because...". As the results show, the most frequently occurring conceptualizations express the following beliefs: LEARNING A FOREIGN LANGUAGE ONLINE IS FREEDOM OF CHOICE/INDEPENDENT LEARNING; ENGLISH IS A MULTIFACETED/COMPLEX OBJECT; ENGLISH IS AN OPEN GATE etc. Furthermore, many learners believe that following the FLEXIBILITY and SELF-DISCIPLINE schemas can positively influence their learning process of Business English. Practical implications of the study results can be relevant for areas such as didactics, development of online learning platforms. The study results can also contribute to the understanding of BELF / the development of future language courses for BELF users. The paper shows that conceptualization analysis can be beneficial for identifying learner beliefs about online Business English learning and the target language itself.