Brazilian English as foreign language teachers' beliefs about grammar-based feedback on L2 writing

Empirical findings have suggested that what teachers do in the classroom mirrors what they believe and these beliefs often influence their instructional decisions (Farrell & Lim, 2005). Research in teacher belief is vast and diverse (Borg, 2003) as is investigation about the effectiveness of written corrective feedback per se (Ferris, 2006; Truscott, 2009); however, little is known about teachers' beliefs about written corrective feedback (Lee, 2009). Therefore, this study aimed at investigating Brazilian EFL teachers' beliefs about grammar-based feedback on L2 writing and the extent to which their beliefs are related to their perceived classroom practice. Fifteen Brazilian EFL teachers answered a five-point Likert scale survey. Results suggest that Brazilian teachers tend to believe that form-focused correction is a recommendable instructional approach. In addition, the qualitative analysis of the teachers' perception of classroom practice implied that their pedagogical decisions are likely to be shaped by beliefs and contextual factors.