Teachers' Beliefs About Second Language Learning

Recently some researchers have turned their attention to the cognitive process employed by teachers. However, most of the studies were conducted in the domain of disciplines other than English. Moreover, researches on the beliefs and practices of university academics examined only what university teacher said about their practice and did not directly observe what they did.This study tends to make an in-depth description of the Chinese tertiary EFL teachers' beliefs about language learning and their actions in classrooms in Shenyang by case studies and tries to explore the possible beliefs that teachers might hold about language learning, the possible origins of the beliefs, the influence of their beliefs on their practice, and the contextual factors that influence the participant's practice.In this study, instruments as questionnaire, interview and observation are employed to collect information. Data analysis of the teachers' belief questionnaire reveals that we should continue to provide strong encouragement to our teachers by presenting them more theoretical evidence and scientific results to confirm their beliefs which are consistent with the current teaching and learning theories on the one hand, and on the other to clarify their misconceptions about issues such as the relationship between grammar and oral English, between fluency and accuracy.Through interviewing the six participants and observing their classroom practice, similarities in their beliefs and differences in their teaching strategies and techniques are demonstrated. In addition, it is found that their practice is generally directed by their beliefs with the influence of contextual factors.The findings from the study imply that there is a challenge to studies of teachers' covert classroom behaviors, indicate that the examination of beliefs and how they relate to practice is crucial to teachers' growth and change, and confirms the assisting role of education programs at last.