A Study On The Relationship Between High School English Teachers’ Beliefs And Classroom Practice

In the recent years, national education ministry has paid great attention to the reform andinnovation of English education of basic phase. English teachers have become the center ofreform and take great pressure and challenge. A lot of researches have explored English teachersprofessional development from the angle of teachers’ beliefs. Many researchers have shifted theirfocus from the theory study of teachers’ beliefs to the study on their relationship betweenteachers’ beliefs and classroom activities.This study investigates high school English teachers’ beliefs and the relationship betweenteachers’ beliefs and their classroom practice. The data are obtained through questionnaires,classroom observation and interview to the ten subjects from one key high school inShijiazhuang city. At the very beginning, the researcher collects the basic information aboutteachers’ beliefs, including beliefs about English, about learning, about learners and aboutteachers themselves. After that, the author attends the class to record and analyze the teachingactivities，including time allotment, teaching emphasis, teachers’ role and classroom activities. Atlast, the relationship between to sides is investigated through the interview.The present study adopts the combination of qualitative and quantitative researchmethods. The data obtained through questionnaire are analyzed through SPSS13.0and the notesand tape records through classroom observation and interviews are transcribed. This researchindicates that teachers’ beliefs influenced teachers’ classroom activities while there are someaspects in which teachers’ beliefs are different from the actual practices, and some reasons mayexplain the discrepancy from the interview, including the interior and exterior reasons. At last,based on the finding of this research, the researcher proposes that teachers should have enoughtime and chance to recharge themselves to enrich their theory knowledge and practicalknowledge, and self-reflection and communication with colleagues are also needed for furthereducation.