An Investigation Into TOEFL/IELTS Test-preparation Teachers' Beliefs In Training Schools

A large body of studies(e.g.,Borg,1998;Huang&Chen,2008;Lou&Liao,2005;Peacock 2001;Zhan,2010)have investigated EFL teachers' beliefs since the 1970s due to their influence on classroom practice(Bailey,1992;Golombek,1998).Nevertheless,these studies maiuly focus on the beliefs of public school EFL teachers from the primary to the tertiary level;few have touched upon the beliefs of TOEFL/IELTS(Test of English as a Foreign Language/Intemational English Language Testing System)test-preparation teachers from private language training institutions,whose professionalism has long been questioned because of no mandatory entrance teaching qualification.Given the immense teacher population and an annual market value of nearly one billion U.S.dollars in the TOEFL/IELTS test-preparation business within the Chinese EFL context,it is important to uncover these teachers9 beliefs in teaching and learning,as well as the possible factors that underpin these beliefs.Thus,the study sets out to investigate the following two research questions:(1)What is the composition of the TOEFL/IELTS teacher belief system in test-prep training schools?What are the different dimensions of such a belief system?(2)What are the influencing factors behind their teacher belief system?What effects do they have on the formation of the teacher belief system in those schools?The study addresses the above research questions by adopting a mixed-method approach based on Borg,s(2003)conceptual framework.A five-point multi-scale Likert questionnaire was administered to a cohort of 307 participants from 10 branch schools of the New Oriental Education and Technology Group in China to reveal their teaching beliefs.The questionnaire was followed by one-on-one semi-structxired interviews with 12 respondents of the questionnaire to locate the factors that underpin their beliefs.Findings showed that TOEFL/IELTS test-preparation teachers regarded optimizing students'test performance as their primary teaching objective as opposed to enhancing students' language competence.In addition,these teachers had conflicting beliefs about methodology:they embraced learmer-centered communicative approach but many still deemed teacher-led grammar-translation method useful to their teaching in different contexts.Furthermore,not only factors such as pre-service education and training and in-service teacher training but also contextual factors such as the change of curriculum and the education policy contributed to the formation of these test-preparation teachers'beliefs.This research concludes with implications for these TOEFL/EELTS teachers'continuing professional development First,reflective teaching should be included in training programs to equip teachers with skills and capabilities to make contextualized teaching decisions.Second,official professional certification as a catalyst for professional identity should be encouraged.Third,teacher trainers or heads of private language institutions can benefit from macro-level curriculum change in transforming teachers' beliefs.