F: I didn't like Ingles sin Barreras. It is like working in a group! I am not saying
that it is a bad course. It may work for other students.
Others simply used phrases such as "for me", "as I see it", "it works for me", etc,
to make clear their awareness about the individuality of a learning process. When
comparing learning styles and strategies, for instance, they did not contradict each other.
They just made clear that their personal experience was different, as the following
interaction shows:
Ga: When you know the structure of the sentence.......(and goes on talking in
favour of the learning of grammar)
S: Grammar is essential (and talks about the function of grammar in communication)
T: But for me, grammar is an obstacle rather than help.
d) Learning a language is difficult
If learning in general is a difficult process, participants agreed that learning a
language is especially difficult. In spite of the acceptance of the process of learning a
language is individual, all the participants agreed with this idea. The causes of this belief
may be attributed to two factors. One the one hand, there is the intrinsic complexity of
the language. According to E
E: Grammar is something so complex but at the same time so logical. How
do we expect to understand something perfectly if we do not know it
in any way?
On the other hand there are the individual traits that do not favour the process of
acquiring the language:
Ge: I am too analytical and perfectionist. That stops me from learning and
acquiring the language
J: I don't like to make mistakes, that is why I don't speak
E: I am shy and too afraid to make mistakes
A: It is my age, young people are better language learners
Ge: Children Ieam easily. For us, it is not that easy
e) Learning a language as an emotional process
It was found that most of the learners related the process of language learning
with certain emotions. Some students describe their learning experiences in emotional
terms
Ga: When I realise that someone understands my English I get very
happy. What a happiness!
J: In secondary school English was scary for me.