A Study On The Impact Of Teaching Practicum On Pre-service English Teachers' Grammar Teaching Beliefs

In recent years,as an important part of teachers' cognition,teachers' beliefs have received extensive attention from scholars at home and abroad.Among them,teachers' grammar teaching beliefs have gradually become one of the focuses of research.However,the current domestic research on pre-service English teachers' grammar teaching beliefs is limited to static research.This thesis attempts to explore the dynamic changes of pre-service English teachers' grammar teaching beliefs before and after the teaching practicum.The purpose is to reveal the influence of teaching practicum on pre-service English teachers' grammar teaching beliefs and the reasons behind it.The research revolves around the following three questions:1.what kind of grammar teaching beliefs do pre-service English teachers hold before the teaching practicum?2.what changes have taken place in pre-service English teachers' grammar teaching beliefs after the teaching practicum?3.what are the reasons for the change of pre-service English teachers'grammar teaching beliefs?This research chose 52 postgraduates majoring in subject teaching(English)from two universities in eastern China as research participants.This research used questionnaire and interview as research tools,and collected participants' teaching reflection journals as supplementary materials.First,52 participants were invited to do the questionnaire survey before and after the practicum.Then six pre-service English teachers from different practice schools were interviewed.After the preliminary data analysis,the interview and the collection of pre-service English teachers' teaching reflection journals were used for further research.The major findings are summarized as followsFirstly,before the teaching practicum,pre-service English teachers on the whole held a sound and reasonable belief about grammar teaching.They not only accepted the general principles of communicative language teaching,emphasized the importance of meaning over form,but also integrated the traditional grammar teaching methods,combined induction with deduction,and treasured pattern drilling and metalanguage explanationsSecondly,after the teaching practicum,the six dimensions of pre-service English teachers'grammar teaching beliefs have enhanced,among which Form-Focused beliefs,Inductive beliefs and Deductive beliefs changed significantly.It shows that the original grammar teaching beliefs of pre-service English teachers were consolidated and strengthened,and tend to focus on meaning and give consideration to form,and pursue the organic unity of induction and deduction.The grammar teaching beliefs of pre-service English teachers underwent positive changes,and the teaching practicum had a positive impact on them.Finally,during the period of teaching practicum,the changes of pre-service English teachers' grammar teaching beliefs were influenced by practice schools,practice instructors,classroom teaching,students in practice schools and self-reflection of pre-service English teachers.According to the research results,this study put forward several suggestions from the perspectives of normal colleges,practice schools,and pre-service English teachers.Normal colleges should improve normal education courses and strengthen professional skills training;practice schools should actively accept student teachers,allocate their appropriate teaching tasks and excellent instructors;pre-service teachers should recognize their beliefs in grammar teaching so as to improve teaching practice,cherish the opportunity of teaching practicum and strengthen self-reflection.