A Comparative Study Of Pre-service EFL Teachers’ Beliefs In College

Since the1990s, there has been a surge in research into teachers’ beliefs andobvious advances on teachers’ beliefs have been made. It is traceable to a consensusthat teachers’ beliefs appear to be instrumental in shaping how teachers interpret whatgoes on in their classroom. And numerous researches on teachers’ beliefs have beenpublished to date, which largely focus on in-service EFL teachers. So far, studies onpre-service EFL teachers’ beliefs are still in shortage. Researches have indicated thatadequate preparation of pre-service EFL teachers depends on insight into the beliefsthat pre-service EFL teachers carry to the classroom. It is suggested that pre-serviceEFL teachers haven’t formed clearly defined beliefs and some beliefs are detrimentalto their learning and teaching. Another issue is about whether teacher educationcourses or educational practices have impact on teacher beliefs. Therefore, this studycenters on pre-service EFL teachers’ beliefs, aiming to explore whether there are anydifferences in teachers’ beliefs among those pre-service EFL teachers in differentgrades.The purpose of this research is three-fold: getting an overall picture ofpre-service EFL teachers’ general view of beliefs; addressing differences between thesenior students’ beliefs who have experienced the educational practices and the juniorstudents who haven’t; comparing pre-service teachers’ beliefs between the normaluniversity and the comprehensive university. A total of445undergraduates participatein this study; they are all English majors from a normal university (n=379;149juniorstudents,230senior students) and from a comprehensive university (n=66; seniorstudents) in Jiangxi province. The data collection includes semi-structured interviewsand questionnaires.Major findings of this study include that pre-service teachers’ beliefs areopen-oriented as a whole, but differ in the degree of the openness in six dimensions ofteachers’ beliefs. Meanwhile their responses reveal some beliefs which aretradition-oriented. Findings also reveal that several significant differences in teachers’beliefs between the senior students who have attended the educational practices andjunior students who haven’t. The major differences can be seen in beliefs aboutEnglish teaching and beliefs about the program and the curriculum, in which senior students show stronger and more positive attitude.Moreover, little significant difference in teachers’ beliefs is found amongpre-service EFL teacher between the normal university and the comprehensiveuniversity. And finally implications are that considerable efforts should be made byteacher educators, educational practicum school and pre-service teachers themselvesto help pre-service EFL teachers eliminate any detrimental teachers’ beliefs beforeentering the classroom.