A Study On The Relationship Between Junior Middle School English Teachers’ Beliefs And Behaviors In Reading Instruction

Teachers’ beliefs,as the driving force behind instructional behaviors,have a significant influence on instructional behaviors.Junior middle school English reading instruction is an important part of English language instruction.As there is a little research on the relationship between the junior middle school English teachers’ beliefs and behaviors,it is important to investigate their relationship.This study investigates the current situation of junior middle school English teachers’ beliefs and instructional behaviors in reading instruction and analyzes their relationship.93 English teachers from 6 schools in Xi’an are involved in questionnaires,followed by interviews with 6 volunteer interviewees.SPSS 20.0 is used to analyze data from questionnaires.Data from the interviews is used for qualitative analysis.The results show that junior middle school English teachers tend to agree with the metacognitive strategy approach,followed by the whole language approach,with the least agreed upon being the skills-based approach.Junior middle school English teachers’ behaviors in reading instruction have a similar tendency to the teachers’ beliefs.There are some consistencies as well as significant differences between teachers’ beliefs and behaviors in reading instruction.On the one hand,although teachers’ beliefs are relatively implicit,they indeed affect instructional behaviors;meanwhile,effective instructional behaviors also promote the transformation of teachers’ beliefs;on the other hand,instruction is often influenced by many factors,which leads tosome differences between these beliefs and behaviors.Based on the results,some suggestions are put forward: firstly,English teachers should recognize and improve their beliefs and behaviors in reading instruction,secondly,teachers need to be aware of the relationship between their beliefs and behaviors in reading instruction,and strive to decrease the differences between them so as to promote effective instruction.