| This study investigated teacher beliefs and practices in English classrooms of Guiyang, Guizhou, China middle schools. The project involved a survey of 45 teachers, classroom observations of 19 classrooms and personal interviews of three teachers. The data from the survey was used to determine teacher attitudes, beliefs, and perceptions about language learning theories and teaching methods used in the classroom. Classroom observations were compared with this data to determine if teachers were actually practicing the methods that they adhered to in the survey. Results showed that the teachers who participated in the study use a combination of methods in the EFL classroom. Responses were not materially different based on age, years teaching, or years of EFL experience. No relationship was noted between teacher beliefs about language acquisition or teaching methods and what the teachers are actually doing in the classroom environment. It was also noted that although the teachers seemed open for change to a communicative environment, they had no plans by which they would enact change. |
