Exploring Pre-service Pre-primary EFL Teacher Beliefs about Teaching English to Very Young Learners: A Macau Case Study

Abstract

Research on the beliefs of pre-service and in-service English teachers at the primary, secondary, and tertiary levels has provided useful knowledge to teacher education curriculum designers. However, the beliefs of pre-service pre-primary English as a foreign language (EFL) teachers have not been addressed. Thus, a case study was conducted in one pre-primary education program at a public university in the Macau Special Administrative Region of China. Data was collected by providing participants ( N = 63) a writing prompt aimed at gathering their beliefs about the teaching and learning of English in the pre-primary context. Qualitative content analysis was used to analyze these written reflection reports of third-year pre-service pre-primary English teachers with the aim of uncovering their beliefs about teaching and learning EFL. Results showed the participants held beliefs about classroom practice, EFL learners and learning, pedagogical knowledge, teaching, content, goals of language teaching, the role of teaching, subject, schooling, hearsay, self, learning to teach, and the teacher education program. Most participants mentioned their beliefs about classroom practice, EFL learners and learning, and pedagogical knowledge, while very few participants wrote about self, learning to teach, or the teacher education program. While many of the beliefs held by the participants were found to be substantiated by early childhood education research, some unfounded beliefs were also uncovered. The results highlighted a need for curriculum designers to reconsider the education program’s ability to meet the needs of the pre-service teachers. Participants required additional training in English content knowledge, use as a medium of instruction, and pronunciation. The polarized view of teaching the mother tongue and EFL should be reconsidered in light of the current views on bilingualism and bilingual education.

Teachers’ and Students’ Perception on Acquiring English Vocabulary for Young Learners Using Mobile Apps in EFL Context

“…The similar point of views leads the mutual understanding to reach the aim of learning. Therefore, many studies in EFL context have investigated the teachers' perception (Alghasab, 2020;Bsharat et al, 2021;Ćirković-Miladinović and Dimitrijević, 2020;Luan et., 2020;Millán Librado & Santos, 2020;;Reynolds et al, 2021) and students' perceptions (Abdelrady et al, 2022;Abdullah, 2020;Cabrera-Solano et al, 2019;Fithriani et al, 2019;Hussain Al-Qahtani, 2019;Ika Dhamayanti, 2021;Karimian Shirejini & Shirejeni, 2020;Klimova & Polakova, 2020;Millá n Librado & Santos, 2020;Roos & Nicholas, 2019;Sheybani, 2019;Soria et al, 2020;Pishghadam et al, 2021;Vattøy & Smith, 2019;Wallace & Leong, 2020;Wang et al, 2019). The respondent and participants used in the previous studies of EFL are also varied such as university or college students (Abdullah, 2020;Alghasab, 2020;Hussain Al-Qahtani, 2019;Karimian Shirejini & Shirejeni, 2020, Klimova & Polakova, 2020Luan et al, 2020;Reynolds et al, 2021;Wang et al, 2019), the respondent from senior high students (Abdelrady et al, 2022;Ika Dhamayanti, 2021;Hadj Said & Al-Jamal, 2018), and the respondent from elementary school (Bsharat et al, 2021;Cabrera-Solano et al, 2019;Ćirković-Miladinović and Dimitrijević, 2020;Gutierrez Arviz...…”

Preschool Teachers’ Issues and Beliefs in English Language Teaching: A Systematic Review (2012-2022)

“…This is consistent with a study by Sikki et al (2013), which found 51% of Indonesia preschool teachers never attended ELT training. Solution to this problem is to design a more effective and comprehensive training programme to ensure improved performance (Reynolds et al, 2021).…”

Pre-Service Teachers Learning to Teach English to Very Young Learners in Macau: Do Beliefs Trump Practice?

“…In general, a “belief” has four common features, including that it “may be consciously or unconsciously held,” “is evaluative in that it is accepted as true by the individual,” “is imbued with emotive commitment,” and “serves as a guide to thought and behavior” ([ 13 ], p.186). In particular, teacher beliefs play an essential role in many aspects of teaching and learning, especially “beliefs about teachers performing tasks and the nature of knowledge” ([ 14 ], p. 2). Teacher beliefs have been shown to be influenced by a teacher’s personal experience [ 15 , 16 ], teaching experience [ 16 ], educational background [ 17 ], and colleague support [ 16 ].…”

“…Teacher beliefs have been shown to be influenced by a teacher’s personal experience [ 15 , 16 ], teaching experience [ 16 ], educational background [ 17 ], and colleague support [ 16 ]. Moreover, the literature has provided insights into teacher beliefs concerning teaching practice [ 18 , 19 , 20 ], teacher education [ 21 , 22 , 23 , 24 ], learning experience [ 25 ], curriculum design [ 14 , 26 ] parent involvement [ 27 ], learner autonomy [ 13 ], and corrective feedback [ 28 , 29 ]. Researchers have also suggested that there is a strong relationship between teacher beliefs and their teaching practice in EFL classrooms [ 1 , 13 , 30 , 31 ].…”