A Case Study On EFL Student Teachers' Beliefs About Teaching Reading

The study of teacher beliefs about foreign language teaching (FLT) is a recent trend in the research of teacher education. Given the scarcity of studies of English as Foreign Language (EFL) student teachers'beliefs about teaching reading in China and the essential role of reading instruction in foreign language learning and teaching, the present study attempts to investigate EFL student teachers'beliefs about it and to examine their practice in teaching practicum.The research questions in this study are: 1) What are the three EFL student teachers'beliefs about reading instruction in middle schools, in terms of EFL reading, reading process, teaching procedures, teacher role, and teaching materials? 2) In what ways does the discrepancy between their beliefs and practice in the teaching practicum exist, regarding EFL reading instruction in middle schools? 3) What are the reasons for the discrepancy between these student teachers'beliefs and practice in teaching EFL reading?A multi-case study was employed in this research. It covered different sources of data, involved administering vignettes analysis, conducting semi-structure interviews, classroom observation and stimulated interviews of three participants. The data were arranged in order of time as follows: firstly the data of vignettes analysis and semi-structure interview were collected for the first research question; secondly, classroom observation were carried out to examine participants'practice; and lastly stimulated recall interviews were conducted to explore the possible reasons for discrepancy between participants'beliefs and practice. The data were collected from September to October in 2009, and three student teachers of EFL at Guangzhou University participated in the research. The major findings were summarized as follows: 1) The methods courses were a primary factor in developing these student teachers'belief system before they began teaching. 2) Conflicting beliefs could be found in student teachers'belief about teaching reading. 3) The three student teachers'teaching practice mainly reflected their beliefs regarding EFL reading instruction. 4) There existed discrepancy between beliefs and practice in some respects in these student teachers. 5) It seemed that in this study the discrepancy might have resulted from tutors'influence, student teachers'lack of teaching experience, student level, classroom discipline and the conventional practice of classroom teaching.The findings indicates that adequate training in the teaching of reading are needed and educators need to pay more attention to the selection of competent tutors for student teachers during their teaching practicum so as to provide professional guidance. It is also advocated that teacher educators assist pre-service teachers in identifying their beliefs, and utilize methods courses in developing student teachers'belies systems.As a preliminary study, it attempts to offer some potential contributions to our knowledge of student teachers'beliefs and practice, concerning EFL reading instruction in secondary schools. It is also hoped to provide some implications for improvement on EFL pre-service teacher education. Longitudinal studies that investigate the issue for a larger scale among student teachers with integrated approaches of quantitative and qualitative methods are recommended.