Iranian EFL teachers' beliefs about how to Teach English Grammar

Abstract

The main purpose of this study is to investigate Iranian English teachers' beliefs about how to teach English grammar. For this purpose,forty-three teachers, eighteen females and twenty-five maleteachers from Kermanshah, Iran, participated in this study. To gather data in the studies about teacher beliefs, MacDonald Badger & White, (2001) questionnaire was used (TBQ). The questionnaire used for this study contained close-ended sections that required teachers to respond to statements on a five point Likert scale-as well as open-ended questions that invited teachers to describe or comment on the issue in details. Findingsof the study indicated the extent to which some of these teachers' beliefs became an influential factor in their teaching and actually their stated pedagogical decisions. Consistent with the findings from previous research studies, this study indicates that teachers do possess a vast array of complex beliefs about pedagogical issues (e.g. importance of grammar) including beliefs about students (e.g. their ability to understand grammar) and classroom practices (i.e. approaches to grammar teaching). It was clear from the teachers' responses to thequestionnairethat their pedagogic beliefs represented an interconnected system in which some beliefs were central. These core beliefs were seen to influence other less strongly held beliefs. One strong core belief that almost all teachers shared was that grammar instruction was not only necessary but it should form a substantial part of the curriculum. Grammar was regarded by the teachers as a declarative set of facts to be learnt. Moreover, grammar instruction was seen to entail the explanation of grammar rules.Keywords: Iranian EFL high school teachers; beliefs;; teaching grammar; classroom activities. As crenças de professores iranianos de inglês sobre como lecionar gramática da língua inglesa rESUMOO objetivo principal deste estudo é investigar as crenças dos professores de inglês iranianos sobre como ensinar gramática inglesa. Para esse fim, quarenta e três professores, dezoito mulheres e vinte e cinco homens de Kermanshah, Irã, participaram deste estudo. Para coletar dados do estudo sobre as crenças dos professores, utilizou-se o questionário MacDonald Badger & White (2001) (TBQ). O questionário usado continha seções fechadas que exigiam que os professores respondessem as declarações em uma escala Likert de cinco pontos -bem como questões abertas que solicitavam aos professores detalhes sobre as respostas. O estudo indicou em que medida algumas dessas crenças tornaram-se um fator influente nos ensinamentos desses professores e em suas decisões pedagógicas. Em consonância com os resultados de estudos de pesquisas anteriores, este estudo indica que os professores possuem uma vasta gama de crenças complexas sobre questões pedagógicas (por exemplo, importância da gramática) incluindo crenças sobre estudantes (por exemplo, BELT | Porto Alegre, 2017;8(2), p. 335-354 336 Original ArticleKamran-Janfeshan | Iranian EFL teachers' beliefs about how to Te...

English as a Foreign Language Teachers' Beliefs About Grammar Teaching in Classroom

“…In addition, the respondents in this study also describe positive responses from their students when grammar is being taught explicitly, such as their students' enthusiasm and the increasing test result of their students. To support the statement above, Janfeshan (2018) has asserted that teachers use approaches to grammar instructions according to their students ' expectations, meanwhile in Schulz (1996' expectations, meanwhile in Schulz ( , 2001 as cited in Janfeshan (2018), it is shown that language learners fiercely look forward to explicit grammar instruction.…”

“…As stated by Niu and Andrew (2012) in Rahman & Rashid (2017), it is important to conduct a study towards teacher's beliefs for teacher beliefs are vital components that can give strong effect in teaching practice since it is defined as "teachers' thoughts about what should be done with teaching." Clark and Peterson (1986), in Janfeshan (2018) also pointed out that teachers' beliefs were generally considered a main determinant of instructional activity and of student learning, thus it was important to explore about teachers' belief because it would reflect everything they do in the classroom.…”

Investigating the relation between pre-service EFL teachers’ epistemic cognition, instructional preferences and perceived engagement beliefs

“…However, there are also studies that report the dominance of the teacher. For example, Janfeshan (2017) and Mardali et al (2019) reported that Iranian EFL emphasized teachers' role in the instruction process rather than students, which the authors attributed to the exam-based culture and traditional teaching in Iran.…”