EFL Teachers' Beliefs And Classroom Practice

This thesis presents a study of the beliefs held by college English teachers of non-English major undergraduates, which aims to explore the teachers'belief systems, the relationship between teachers'beliefs and their classroom practices, and the influential factors of such beliefs.On the basis of the review of previous studies, a qualitative method was adopted to study five college English teachers'beliefs by means of interviews and classroom observations. The participant teachers, different in gender, age, educational background, teaching experience, professional qualification, the schools from which they graduated, professional training programs, and the students they taught, were the representatives of the college English teachers. Besides, some students of the participant teachers were also interviewed to examine if teachers'beliefs were consistent with their actual classroom practices. The data in the study were collected by means of semi-structured interviews and classroom observations. The interviews of the teachers centered on the teachers'beliefs of the nature of English, English learning, learners, teaching and teaching as a profession, the relationship between beliefs and classroom practices, and the main influential factors of teachers'beliefs. Classroom observations recorded whether the teachers carried out their beliefs in their teaching practices, and the interviews with the students were conducted around their teachers'classroom practices.After transcribing, classifying and analyzing the data, the following results are obtained. Although teachers hold distinct beliefs of the nature of English, English learning, learners, teaching and teaching as a profession, they share some universal beliefs of the relationship between the teacher and the students, the quality of a good teacher, and the importance of arousing the students'interest. Teachers'beliefs and practices are closely related, but there is no one-to-one correlation between them. Teachers'prior language learning experiences and teaching practices are widely accepted as the main influential factors of teachers'beliefs. Teachers'characters and students are also identified as important variables by the participant teachers. Teachers'beliefs and learners'beliefs are not always consistent with each other. There are gaps between the teachers'actual needs and the teacher education in our country.Based on the study, some suggestions are made for both teachers and teacher education. Teachers should rediscover and adjust their knowledge structure, reflect upon their teaching beliefs, and strengthen communication and interaction with students and other colleagues. For teacher education, schools and teacher training departments should increase the studies on teachers'belief development, strengthen the training of teachers' capacity of turning theoretical knowledge into practice, and provide teachers with platforms for communication and further education.