Pre-service teacher beliefs about language learning: The second language acquisition course as an agent for change

Abstract

This large mixed methods study investigated the effects of the introductory second language acquisition (SLA) course on the beliefs of pre-service teachers (n = 381) enrolled over a threeyear period at a state university in California. Pre-to post-course paired sample t-tests that were run on 23 beliefs statements from a widely used survey revealed significant changes in beliefs in several areas including the length of time for acquisition, difficulty of language acquisition, the role of culture, the role of error correction, the importance of grammar, and the efficacy of audiolingual learning strategies. In extensive written post-course explanations, the pre-service teachers attributed their pre-course beliefs to language learning experience in high school and post-course changes in their beliefs to the SLA course content and experiential activities, most notably tutoring an ESL student (the first contact for some teachers). Depth of knowledge was revealed in the teacher comments; this included information that could not have been gleaned from the beliefs surveys alone. The findings, which demonstrated how pre-service teacher beliefs evolve within the context of a professional education course, have practical implications for course design and evaluation in teacher education programs.

Teachers’ Declared Intentions to Shift Practice to Incorporate Second Language Acquisition (SLA) Theories

“…Such findings align with previous studies that share a positive outlook on what teachers can do JOURNAL OF LANGUAGE TEACHING AND RESEARCH 1029 when they receive information about research within a higher institution setting (Busch, 2010;Erlam, 2008;McDonald, Badger, & White, 2001). Such findings support the notion that it is not whether teachers are taught about SLA theories, but other factors that determine whether this instruction changes their theories and intentions for practice.…”

“…Systematic attempts to alter teacher beliefs and enhance the theoretical knowledge base of teachers has had limited success (Ellis, 2010;Peacock, 2001). Even so, there is counter evidence suggesting that teacher education programs can exert a certain amount of positive influence on teachers (Busch, 2010;Erlam, 2008;McDonald, Badger, & White, 2001). …”

Written Corrective Feedback and Its Challenges for Pre-Service ESL Teachers

“…We build on suggestions by Barkhuizen and Borg (2010), who identified the concept of space as a common thread running through language teacher education: "space to reflect, to practice, to confer and to exercise autonomy" and argued that such space entails "freedom from contextual constraints, which gives teachers the opportunity to develop their pedagogical knowledge" (p. 238). In this study, our aim was to create a space for pre-service teachers to exercise their autonomy as a means of developing practical pedagogical knowledge through problem solving and tutoring undertaken in connection with a pre-service course (see also Busch, 2010;Morton & Gray, 2010).…”

Influencing pre-service teachers’ beliefs and practices: a case for an experimental teaching experience.

“…Examples of typical tasks include taking class notes based on video recordings of their classes; formulating hypotheses, based on scientific observations within their field of interest and writing a formal e-mail to a member of the academic staff. Additionally, the relaxed, communicative atmosphere serves to reduce any sense of hierarchy between the L2 students and the PSTs (Busch 2010;De Mets 2013).…”

“…The findings from the aforementioned literature has major implications for the theoretical component of teacher training and has led to a number of studies that address the importance of experiential learning (Busch 2010) and hands-on instructional activities (Hiebert & Morris 2012) in teacher training. It leads Borg (2011) to conclude that teacher education may have a limited impact on pre-service teachers if it focuses more on knowledge transmission than on experiential learning.…”