Students and Teachers’ Causal Attributions to Course Failure and Repetition in an ELT Undergraduate Program

Abstract

This article is the product of a diagnostic research study conducted by two professors from the APRENAP research group at Universidad Surcolombiana from Neiva, Huila, Colombia. The study aimed at looking into the causes for the English courses repetition phenomenon which was evident among many students especially in the advanced semesters at the ELT undergraduate program in the university. The main purpose of this qualitative study that followed the Grounded Theory principles was to determine to which factors the academic community of the program- professors and students- attributed the constant failure and repetition of advanced English courses by some students. Findings gathered from the analysis of a questionnaire and a semi-structured interview evidenced that variables such as a lack of autonomous learning habits, economic, labor and family responsibilities, and few hours of class, among others, affect negatively students’ foreign language learning.