Mohammad Mosiur Rahman

Delving the In-Service Teachersâ Beliefs about English, Language Learning and Teaching in EFL Context

The article addresses the beliefs of in-service teachers about English, language learning and teaching, posing the relevant and fundamental question ‘what are the beliefs of in-service teachers about English, language learning and teaching’. Beliefs underpin the behavior, action and learning of human being. Language teachers, like people in other discipline, possess certain beliefs about learning which have either positive or negative impact on their classroom practice, and thereby on students’ language learning. This article reports on an investigation into the beliefs of 400 teachers (120 females and 280 males) in Bangladesh. Additionally, the current study intends to uncover the beliefs of 120 teachers about English and teaching. The teachers chosen in this study have received in-service training from TTCs, ELTIP and EIA. The questionnaire administered to reveal teachers’ beliefs about language learning is the one developed by Horwitz. In contrast, the questionnaires administered to sort out teachers’ beliefs about English and teaching, are the ones suggested by Richards and Lockhart. The findings show that teachers hold certain impractical beliefs and misconceptions about English which may drastically affect learners’ language learning.

Teachers’ dilemma bog down CLT in EFL contexts: A discussion on EFL teachers’ beliefs and sources

This article has penetrated the constraints derived from beliefs of teachers, and how they drive Communicative Language Teaching (CLT) not to be implemented properly in Bangladesh. Numerous studies conducted earlier investigated and revealed the issues affecting the successful implementation of CLT. This article exclusively investigates on the beliefs held by teachers and sources of those beliefs with its wider exploration. Examining such phenomenon in other EFL contexts, this study intends to find out the similarities of problem in terms of belief and sort out strategies adapted there to reshape beliefs of the teachers. Besides, this article also uncovers the problematic sources of EFL teachers’ belief. The qualitative method is followed to complete the investigation. It is found that most of the teachers are cognizant about what CLT supposes them to do. Due to some barriers generated from the setting and their reluctance, CLT is not implemented properly. Therefore, contradictory stance of the teachers drastically affects the classroom practice following CLT. Finally, it is revealed that beliefs generated from teachers’ own experience as language learners, experience of what works best and principles derived from an approach or method persuade teachers to perceive CLT with a bunch of wrong connotations. KeywordsELT, EFL, CLT, Teacher, Beliefs