Iranian Undergraduates Non-English Majors Language Learning Preferences

For effective language learning and teaching , both learner skills and assumptions shouldbe given due attention. In promoting this idea, students should be provided with theopportunity to clarify and assess their preferences. Moved with the conviction thatlearners and learners’ preferences are of crucial importance in the development oflanguage learning, we asked 192 non-English major undergraduates to state their viewson how they prefer learning English in the “General English “ class. The wide-spreadbelief among Iranian university instructors is that in General English classes, students’language learning preferences do not differ significantly. However, the results indicatethat there is a significant difference among non-English majors’ preferences, even indifferent branches of the same major, regarding preferred teaching method, the mostimportant language skill and their motivational orientations. The results have implicationsfor syllabus and material design and classroom practice.