Developmental L2 Learning Epistemology: Its Construct and Relationship with General Epistemological Beliefs

There is ample research evidence for the significance of language learners’ beliefs for the process and outcome of L2 learning; however, the construct of developmental L2 learning epistemological beliefs (EBs), constituting beliefs about the certainty, simplicity, source, and justification of L2 knowledge, is extremely under-researched. The present study involved (a) the construction and validation of an L2 learning-specific developmental epistemology inventory (LDEI), and (b) the investigation of the relationship between language learners’ L2 learning-specific and general EBs. Capitalizing on 17 interview-housed themes and their developmental patterns across maximally variant samples in an earlier qualitative study, 68 belief statements (four on each theme, representing the four EBs’ developmental stages of absolute knowing (AK), transitional knowing (TK), independent knowing (IK), and contextual knowing (CK)) were worded and piloted. A higher-order factor analysis and the Schmid-Leiman solution (SLS) on data obtained from a widely variant sample of 571 L2 learners showed LDEI’s construct validity. Analyses unearthed (a) eight primary factors designating AK TK, IK, and CK’s items related to the nature of L2 knowledge and the nature of L2 knowing, and (b) four second-order components each representing one of the four developmental stages. Finally, LDEI scores of 123 of the 571 participants in the piloting phase were shown to be significantly, but only moderately, correlated with their scores on a general EBs questionnaire, showing the two constructs’ relative distinctiveness. Implications are discussed in light of existing models of epistemology and second language acquisition theories.