Rote Vs Meaningful Learning in EFL Classes: Perspectives and Beliefs

Abstract

The present study aims at investigating teachers’ and students’ attitudes toward the dichotomy rote vs meaningful learning of English as a foreign language classes at the department of letters and English language at Guelma university. The goal of any educational system is to generate learners with some specific thoughtful skills that would allow them to obtain and transfer knowledge to real life situations and solve the various life problems. More specifically, students in higher education are expected to be independent learners and follow the guidance of their teachers. However, students at Guelma university and over their academic years have developed the habit of relying on teachers’ handouts and view the process of learning as a superficial one. Such habits and such oversimplification can be considered as a major reason behind creating passive learners who cannot neither use the knowledge meaningfully nor think critically. In order to achieve the aforementioned aim, this research opted for a quantitative method in that two different questionnaires were distributed to eight teachers and forty-six students. The results obtained from the analysis of the questionnaires showed that both teachers and students are in favour of the implementation of meaningful learning because of its effectiveness and advantages in giving the freedom of thoughts, analyses, criticism, and creativity. Unlike rote learning which limits students in a circle from of learning, that is, memorizing, practicing, and eventually forgetting. For this reason, it is recommended to adopt a teaching method that calls for a learner- centred atmosphere and leaves the space for students’ participation where the teacher is not a spoon feeder anymore but a guide.