An inquiry into EFL teachers’ beliefs concerning effective teaching, student learning and development
Gülten Koşar 1 * , Sevda Doğan Dolapçıoğlu 2
More Detail
1 Department of English Language Teaching, Hatay Mustafa Kemal University, Hatay, Turkey
2 Department of Curriculum and Instruction, Hatay Mustafa Kemal University, Hatay, Turkey
* Corresponding Author

Abstract

How teaching could be conducted effectively and consequently student learning could be enhanced presumably vary from teacher to teacher, arising from a variety of such factors as the conditions in the workplace, teachers’ year of teaching experience and their prior schooling experiences. In this regard, English-as-a-foreign-language (EFL) teachers’ (EFLTs) beliefs about quality teaching leading to facilitated student learning are also highly likely to be divergent. This survey research aims to add to the growing literature on teacher beliefs via unveiling EFLTs’ (N = 520) beliefs regarding effective teaching in general and effective EFL teaching in particular, student learning and development, and the probable changes that may occur in their beliefs according to the year of their teaching experience and the level of education they teach. The results revealed that the EFLTs held strong beliefs with respect to the effect of constructivist and humanistic concepts on effective teaching and student learning, and believed implementing communicative approach and conducting interactive activities induced effective EFL teaching and student learning. The findings also indicated that there existed statistically significant differences in EFLTs’ beliefs concerning constructivist concepts and EFL teaching practices according to the year of their teaching experience.

Keywords

References

  • Anderson, J. (2020). ‘Buying in’ to communicative language teaching: The impact of ‘initial’ certification courses on the classroom practices of experienced teachers of English. Innovation in Language Teaching and Learning, 14(1), 1-14. https://doi.org/10.1080/17501229.2018.1471082
  • Baggett, H. C. (2018). “We’re here to learn to speak French”: An exploration of world language teachers’ beliefs about students and teaching. Educational Studies, 54(6), 641-667. https://doi.org/10.1080/00131946.2018.1478836
  • Bai, B., & Yuan, R. (2019). EFL teachers’ beliefs and practices about pronunciation teaching. ELT Journal, 73(2), 134-143. https://doi:10.1093/elt/ccy040
  • Bernstein, K. A., Kılınç, S., Deeg, M. T., Marley, S. C., Farrand, K. M., & Kelly, M. F. (2018). Language ideologies of Arizona preschool teachers implementing dual language teaching for the first time: pro-multilingual beliefs, practical concerns. International Journal of Bilingual Education and Bilingualism, 24(4), 457-480. https://doi.org/10.1080/13670050.2018.1476456
  • Borg, S. (1998). Talking about grammar in the foreign language classroom. Language Awareness, 7(4), 159-175. https://doi.org/10.1080/09658419808667107
  • Borg, M. (2001). Teachers’ beliefs. ELT Journal, 55(2), 186-188.
  • Borg, S. (2003). Teacher cognition in language teaching: A review of research on what language teachers think, know, believe, and do. Language Teaching, 36, 81–109. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0261444803001903
  • Borg, S. (2011). The impact of in-service teacher education on language teachers’ beliefs. System, 39(3), 370–380. https://doi:10.1016/j.system.2011.07.009
  • Chaaban, Y. (2017). Examining changes in beliefs and practices: English language teachers’ participation in the school-based Support Program. Professional Development in Education, 43(4), 592-611. https://doi.org/10.1080/19415257.2016.1233508
  • Cheung, A., & Leung, M. H. (2020). Exploring an ESL teachers’ beliefs and practices of teaching literary texts: A case study in Hong Kong. Language Teaching Research, 1-26. doi.org/10.1177/1362168820933447. https://doi.org/10.1177/1362168820933447
  • Creswell, J. W. (2012). Educational research: Planning, conducting and evaluating quantitative and qualitative research. Pearson.
  • Crusan, D., Plakans, L., & Gebril, A. (2016). Writing assessment literacy: Surveying second language teachers’ knowledge, beliefs, and practices. Assessing Writing, 28, 43-56. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.asw.2016.03.001
  • Dale, L., Oostdam, R., & Verspoor, M. (2018). Towards a professional development tool for teachers of English in bilingual streams: The dynamics of beliefs and practices. International Journal of Bilingual Education and Bilingualism, 1-18. https://doi.org/10.1080/13670050.2018.1556244
  • Deng, C., & Carless, D. R. (2010). Examination preparation or effective teaching: Conflicting priorities in the implementation of a pedagogic innovation. Language Assessment Quarterly, 7, 285-302. https://doi.org/10.1080/15434303.2010.510899
  • Devine, D., Fahie, D., & McGillicuddy, D. (2013). What is ‘good’ teaching? Teacher beliefs and practices about their teaching. Irish Educational Studies, 32(1), 83-108. https://doi.org/10.1080/03323315.2013.773228
  • Farrell, T. S. C., & Bennis, K. (2013). Reflecting on ESL teacher beliefs and classroom practices: A case study. RELC Journal, 44(2), 163-176. https://doi.org/10.1177/0033688213488463
  • Farrell, T. S. C., & Ives, J. (2015). Exploring teacher beliefs and classroom practices through reflective practice: A case study. Language Teaching Research, 19(5), 594-610. https://doi.org/10.1177/1362168814541722
  • Feryok, A. (2008). An Armenian English language teacher’s practical theory of communicative language teaching. System, 36, 227-240. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.system.2007.09.004
  • Fives, H., & Buehl, M. M. (2012). Spring cleaning for the “messy” construct of teachers’ beliefs: What are they? Which have been examined? What can they tell us? In K. R. Harris, S. Graham, T. Urdan, S. Graham, J. M. Royer, & M. Zeidner (Eds.), APA educational psychology handbook, Vol. 2. Individual differences and cultural and contextual factors (pp. 471–499). American Psychological Association.
  • Gareca B. C., & Gui, M. (2019). Chinese and American EFL teachers’ beliefs about curricular and pedagogical practices: Cross-cultural similarities and differences. Language and Intercultural Communication, 19(2), 137-151. https://doi.org/10.1080/14708477.2018.1456546
  • Ghavamnia, M. (2020). Iranian EFL teachers’ beliefs and perspectives on incorporating culture in EFL classes. Intercultural Education, 31(3), 314-329. https://doi.org/10.1080/14675986.2020.1733862
  • Gkonou, C., Mercer, S., & Daubney, M. (2018). Teacher perspectives on language learning psychology. The Language Learning Journal, 46(4), 501-513. https://doi.org/10.1080/09571736.2016.1172330
  • Graham, S., Santos, D., & Brophy, E. F. (2014). Teacher beliefs about listening in a foreign language. Teaching and Teacher Education, 40, 44-60. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.tate.2014.01.007
  • Gu, Q. (2010). Variations in beliefs and practices: teaching English in cross-cultural contexts. Language and Intercultural Communication, 10(1), 32-53. https://doi.org/10.1080/13670050.2017.1332000
  • Harrison, J., & Lakin, J. (2018). Mainstream teachers’ implicit beliefs about English language learners: An implicit association test study of teacher beliefs. Journal of Language, Identity & Education, 17(2), 85-102. https://doi.org/10.1080/15348458.2017.1397520
  • Hawanti, S. (2014). Implementing Indonesia’s English language teaching policy in primary schools: The role of teachers’ knowledge and beliefs. International Journal of Pedagogies and Learning, 9(2), 162-170. https://doi.org/10.1080/18334105.2014.11082029
  • Hayes, D. (2009). Learning language, learning teaching: Episodes from the life of a teacher of English in Thailand. RELC Journal, 40(1), 83-101. https://doi.org/10.1177/0033688208101446
  • Kagan, D. M. (1992). Implications of research on teacher belief. Educational Psychologist, 27, 65 – 90. https://doi.org/10.1207/s15326985ep2701_6
  • Karabenick, S. A., & Noda, P. A. C. (2004). Professional development implications of teachers' beliefs and attitudes toward English language learners. Bilingual Research Journal, 28(1), 55-75. https://doi.org/10.1080/15235882.2004.10162612
  • Karimi, M. N., Abdullahi, K., & Haghighi, K. (2016). English as a foreign language teachers' self efficacy as a determinant of correspondence between their professed orientations toward reading and their reading instructional practices. Innovation in Language Learning and Teaching, 10(3), 155-170. https://doi.org/10.1080/17501229.2014.920847
  • Kissau, S., Rodgers, M., & Haudeck, H. (2014). Foreign language teaching: An international comparison of teacher beliefs. Research in Comparative and International Education, 9(1), 227-242.
  • Knudsen, H. B. S., Donau, P. S., L. Mifsud, C., Papadopoulos, T. C., & Dockrell, J. E. (2021). Multilingual classrooms—danish teachers’ practices, beliefs and attitudes. Scandinavian Journal of Educational Research, 65(5), 767-782. https://doi.org/10.1080/00313831.2020.1754903
  • Lee, R. N., & Bathmaker, A. M. (2007). The use of English textbooks for teaching English to 'vocational' students in Singapore secondary schools: A survey of teachers' beliefs. RELC Journal, 38(3), 350-374. https://doi.org/10.1080/09588221.2011.630672
  • Li, L., & Walsh, S. (2011). ‘Seeing is believing’: Looking at EFL teachers’ beliefs through classroom interaction. Classroom Discourse, 2(1), 39-57. https://doi.org/10.1080/19463014.2011.562657
  • Li, L. (2013). The complexity of language teachers’ beliefs and practice: One EFL teacher’s theories. The Language Learning Journal, 41(2), 175-191. https://doi.org/10.1080/09571736.2013.790132
  • Liviero, S. (2017). Grammar teaching in secondary school foreign language learning in England: teachers’ reported beliefs and observed practices. The Language Learning Journal, 45(1), 26-50. https://doi.org/10.1080/09571736.2016.1263677
  • Ministry of National Education. (2018a). The 2nd-8th Grades English Curriculum. http://mufredat.meb.gov.tr/Dosyalar/201812411191321-%C4%B0NG%C4%B0L%C4%B0ZCE%20%C3%96%C4%9ERET%C4%B0M%20PROGRAMI%20Klas%C3%B6r%C3%BC.pdf.
  • Ministry of National Education. (2018b). The 9th-12th Grades English Curriculum http://mufredat.meb.gov.tr/Dosyalar/201812020472656-OGM%20INGILIZCE%20PRG%2020.012018.pdf.
  • Moodie, I. (2016). The anti-apprenticeship of observation: How negative prior language learning experience influences English language teachers’ beliefs and practices. System, 60, 29-41. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.system.2016.05.011
  • Muñoz, R., & Ramirez, M. (2015). Teachers’ conceptions of motivation and motivating practices in second-language learning: A self-determination theory perspective. Theory and Research in Education, 13(2), 198-220. https://doi.org/10.1177/1477878515593885
  • Murphy, A. F., & Torff, B. (2019). Teachers’ beliefs about rigor of curriculum for English language learners. The Educational Forum, 83(1), 90-101. https://doi.org/10.1080/00131725.2018.1505991
  • Nguyen, C. D. (2017). Connections between learning and teaching: EFL teachers’ reflective practice. Pedagogies: An International Journal, 12(3), 237-255. https://doi.org/10.1080/1554480X.2017.1356725
  • Nguyen, L., Harvey, S., & Grant, L. (2016). What teachers say about addressing culture in their EFL teaching practices: The Vietnamese context. Intercultural Education, 27(2), 165-178. https://doi.org/10.1080/14675986.2016.1144921
  • Oder, T. (2014). English language teachers’ perceptions of professional teaching. Teacher Development, 18(4), 482-494. https://doi.org/10.1080/13664530.2014.953253
  • Oder, T., & Eisenschmidt, E. (2018). Teachers’ perceptions of school climate as an indicator of their beliefs of effective teaching. Cambridge Journal of Education, 48(1), 3-20. https://doi.org/10.1080/0305764X.2016.1223837
  • Pajares, M. (1992). Teachers’ beliefs and educational research: Cleaning up a messy construct. Review of Educational Research, 62, 307 – 332. https://doi.org/10.3102/00346543062003307
  • Pettit, S. K. (2011). Teachers' beliefs about English language learners in the mainstream classroom: A review of the literature. International Multilingual Research Journal, 5(2), 123-147. https://doi.org/10.1080/19313152.2011.594357
  • Pham, L. N. K., & Hamid, M. O. (2013). Beginning EFL teachers’ beliefs about quality questions and their questioning practices. Teacher Development, 17(2), 246-264. https://doi.org/10.1080/13664530.2012.753947
  • Phipps, S., & Borg, S. (2009). Exploring tensions between teachers’ grammar teaching beliefs and practices. System, 37, 380-390. https://doi:10.1016/j.system.2009.03.002
  • Portolés, L., & Martí, O. (2020). Teachers’ beliefs about multilingual pedagogies and the role of initial training. International Journal of Multilingualism, 17(2), 248-264. https://doi.org/10.1080/14790718.2018.1515206
  • Richards, J. C., & Lockhart, C. (2007). Reflective teaching in second language classrooms. CUP.
  • Rijt, J. H. M. V., & Wijnands, A., & Coppen, P. A. J. M. (2020). Investigating Dutch teachers’ beliefs on working with linguistic metaconcepts to improve students' L1 grammatical understanding. Research Papers in Education, 1-29. https://doi.org/10.1080/02671522.2020.1784258
  • Rosenfeld, M., & Rosenfeld, S. (2008). Developing effective teacher beliefs about learners: The role of sensitizing teachers to individual learning differences. Educational Psychology, 28(3), 245-272. https://doi.org/10.1080/01443410701528436
  • Sanchez, H. S., & Borg, S. (2014). Insights into L2 teachers’ pedagogical content knowledge: A cognitive perspective on their grammar explanations. System, 44, 45-53. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.system.2014.02.005
  • Sato, M., & Oyanedel, J. C. (2019). “I think that is a better way to teach but …”: EFL teachers’ conflicting beliefs about grammar teaching. System, 84, 110-122. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.system.2019.06.005
  • Sun, C., Wei, L., & Young, R. F. (2020). Measuring teacher cognition: Comparing Chinese EFL teachers’ implicit and explicit attitudes toward English language teaching methods. Language Teaching Research. https://doi.org/10.1177/1362168820903010
  • Swierzbin, B., & Reimer, J. (2019). The effects of a functional linguistics-based course on teachers’ beliefs about grammar. Language Awareness, 28(1), 31-48. https://doi.org/10.1080/09658416.2019.1598423
  • Tadesse, L. (2020). Problems affecting the practice of student-centered approach in teaching social studies. Journal of Pedagogical Sociology and Psychology, 2(2), 69-79. https://doi.org/10.33902/JPSP.202026294
  • Tam, A. C. F. (2012). Teachers’ misconceptions and questionable practices when using Putonghua as the medium-of-instruction: A case study of Hong Kong. Teachers and Teaching: Theory and Practice, 18(6), 655-673. https://doi.org/10.1080/13540602.2012.746500
  • Vries, S., Grift, W. J. C. M., & Jansen, E. P. W. A. (2014). How teachers’ beliefs about learning and teaching relate to their continuing professional development. Teachers and Teaching: Theory and Practice, 20(3), 338-357. https://doi.org/10.1080/13540602.2013.848521
  • Watson, A. (2015). The problem of grammar teaching: A case study of the relationship between a teacher’s beliefs and pedagogical practice. Language and Education, 29(4), 332-346. https://doi.org/10.1080/09500782.2015.1016955
  • Young, T. J., & Sachdev, I. (2011). Intercultural communicative competence: Exploring English language teachers’ beliefs and practices. Language Awareness, 20(2), 81-98. https://doi.org/10.1080/09658416.2010.540328
  • Zheng, H. (2013). The dynamic interactive relationship between Chinese secondary school EFL teachers’ beliefs and practice. The Language Learning Journal, 41(2), 192-204. https://doi.org/10.1080/09571736.2013.790133

License

This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.