A Study of Iranian Novice vs. Experienced EFL Teachers’ Perceptions of Teaching Grammar: Searching for Professional Development

Document Type : Original Article

Authors

1 Khazar Institute of Higher Education, Iran

2 Mazandaran University

Abstract

The present study aimed at comparing the perceptions of two groups of Iranian EFL teachers’- novice vs. experienced- of their Professional Development (PD) regarding teaching grammar. Ten EFL teachers were selected as novice teachers with less than five years of teaching experience and ten teachers were selected as experienced teachers with more than twenty years of teaching experience. A structured interview was applied to determine and compare the novice and experienced teachers’ attitudes toward PD based on the issue of teaching grammar. Content analysis was used to analyze the collected data. The results indicated that most novice teachers believed that their views concerning teaching grammar have changed as they became more experienced. They mentioned some examples of such changes in their teaching practice such as using L1 when necessary, taking several English classes to enhance their experience, reading different books, learning from more experienced teachers, revising errors with the help of knowledgeable teachers, etc. Based on the ideas of the experienced teachers, adhering to a fixed old method cannot answer the complexity of teaching to different learners at different points of time. Therefore, most of them mentioned that through reflection on their teaching practice and reading articles, and consulting other teachers, they try to keep up-to-date. The study presented a number of implications for language teachers and curriculum designers on the issue of PD.

Keywords

References

Alibakhshi, G., & Dehvari, N. (2015). EFL teachers’ perceptions of continuing professional development: A case of Iranian high school teachers. Profile Issues in Teachers Professional Development, 17(2), 29-42. https://doi.org/10.15446/profile.v17n2.43713
Asa’di, E., & Motallebzadeh, K. (2013). Classroom observation: A factor for Iranian EFL teachers’ professional development and their students’ achievements. European Online Journal of Natural and Social Sciences: Proceedings, 2(2s), 523-532.
Babanoğlu, M. P., & Yardimci, A. (2017). Turkish state and private school EFL teachers’ perceptions on professional development. Çukurova University Faculty of Education Journal, 46(2), 789-803. https://doi.org/10.14812/cuefd.305210
Barkhuizen, G. (2011). Narrative knowledging in TESOL. TESOL Quarterly, 45(3), 391-414. https://doi.org/10.5054/tq.2011.261888
Braten, I., & Ferguson, L. E. (2015). Beliefs about sources of knowledge predict motivation for learning in teacher education. Teaching and Teacher Education, 50, 13-23. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tate.2015.04.003
Borg, S. (2003). Teacher cognition in language teaching: A review of research on what language teachers think, know, believe, and do. Language Teaching, 36(2), 81-109. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0261444803001903
Borg, S. (2006). The distinctive characteristics of foreign language teachers. Language Teaching Research, 10(1), 3-31. https://doi.org/10.1191/1362168806lr182oa
Bridwell-Mitchell, E. N. (2015). Theorizing teacher agency and reform: How institutionalized instructional practices change and persist. Sociology of Education, 88(2), 140-159. https://doi.org/10.1177/0038040715575559
Brownlee, J., Purdie, N., & Boulton-Lewis, G. (2001). Changing epistemological beliefs in pre-service teacher education students. Teaching in Higher Education, 6(2), 247-268. https://doi.org/10.1080/13562510120045221
Buehl, M. M., & Beck, J. S. (2015). The relationship between teachers’ beliefs and teachers’ practices. In H. Fives & M. G. Gill (Eds.), International handbook of research on teachers’ beliefs (pp. 66-84). Routledge.
Byrnes, J. P., & Wasik, B. A. (2009). Language and literacy development: What educators need to know. Guilford Press.
Creswell, J. W., & Creswell, J. D. (2017). Research design: Qualitative, quantitative, and mixed methods approaches (5th ed.). Sage Publications.
Cross, R. (2020). The ‘subject’ of Freeman & Johnson’s reconceived knowledge base of second language teacher education. Language Teaching Research, 24(1), 37-48. https://doi.org/10.1177/1362168818777521
Darling-Hammond, L. (1995). Changing conceptions of teaching and teacher development. Teacher Education Quarterly, 22(4), 9-26.
Day, C. (1999). Professional development and reflective practice: Purposes, processes and partnerships. Pedagogy, Culture & Society, 7(2), 221-233. https://doi.org/10.1080/14681369900200057
Fielding, G. D., & Schalock, H. D. (1985). Promoting the professional development of teachers and administrators. ERIC Clearinghouse on Educational Management.
Fives, H., & Buehl, M. M. (2012). Spring cleaning for the “messy” construct of teachers’ beliefs: What are they? Which have been examined? What can they tell us? In K. R. Harris, S. Graham, & T. Urdan (Eds.), APA educational psychology handbook: Vol. 2. Individual differences and cultural and contextual factors (pp. 471-499). American Psychological Association. https://doi.org/10.1037/13274-019.
Freeman, D., & Johnson, K. E. (1998). Reconceptualizing the knowledge-base of language teacher education. TESOL Quarterly, 32(3), 397-417. https://doi.org/10.2307/3588114
Fullan, M. (1995). The school as a learning organization: Distant dreams. Theory into Practice, 34(4), 230-235. https://doi.org/10.1080/00405849509543685
Gabillon, Z. (2013). A synopsis of L2 teacher belief research. Paper presented at the Belgrade International Conference on Education 2013.
Ganser, T. (2000). An ambitious vision of professional development for teachers. NASSP Bulletin, 84(618), 6-12. https://doi.org/10.1177/019263650008461802
Anderson, L. W. (Ed.). (1995). International encyclopedia of teaching and teacher education (2nd ed.). Elsevier Science.
Gill, M. G., Ashton, P. T., & Algina, J. (2004). Changing preservice teachers’ epistemological beliefs about teaching and learning in mathematics: An intervention study. Contemporary Educational Psychology, 29(2), 164-185. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cedpsych.2004.01.003
Hofer, B. K., & Pintrich, P. R. (1997). The development of epistemological theories: Beliefs about knowledge and knowing and their relation to learning. Review of Educational Research, 67(1), 88-140. https://doi.org/10.3102/00346543067001088
Hughes, P. (1991). Teachers’ professional development. Australian Council for Educational Research.
Jazi, Z., Talebinejad, M. R., & Hashemian, M. (2015). Iranian high school teachers’ perception of professional obstacles in terms of gender and age. International Journal of Language Learning and Applied Linguistics World, 8(4), 346-358.
Johnson, K. E. (2009). Trends in second language teacher education. In A. Burns & J. C. Richards (Eds.), The Cambridge guide to second language teacher education (pp. 20-29). Cambridge University Press.
Khader, F. R. (2012). Teachers’ pedagogical beliefs and actual classroom practices in social studies instruction. American International Journal of Contemporary Research, 2(1), 73-92.
Leithwood, K. A. (1992). The principal’s role in teacher development. In M. Fullan & A. Hargreaves (Eds.), Teacher development and educational change (pp. 86-103). Falmer Press.
López, F. A. (2017). Altering the trajectory of the self-fulfilling prophecy: Asset-based pedagogy and classroom dynamics. Journal of Teacher Education, 68(2), 193-212. https://doi.org/10.1177/0022487116685751
Mann, S. (2005). The language teacher’s development. Language Teaching, 38(3), 103-118. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0261444805002867
Mehrpour, S., & Mirsanjari, Z. (2016). Investigating the manifestation of teaching expertise feature among novice and experienced EFL teachers. Journal of English Language Teaching and Learning, 8(18), 167-198.
Mizell, H. (2010). Why professional development matters. Learning Forward.
Murphy, P. K., & Mason, L. (2006). Changing knowledge and beliefs. In P. A. Alexander & P. H. Winne (Eds.), Handbook of educational psychology (2nd ed., pp. 305-324). Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.
Mushayikwa, E., & Lubben, F. (2009). Self-directed professional development–Hope for teachers working in deprived environments? Teaching and Teacher Education, 25(3), 375-382. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tate.2008.12.003.
Olafson, L., & Schraw, G. (2006). Teachers’ beliefs and practices within and across domains. International Journal of Educational Research, 45(1-2), 71-84. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijer.2006.08.005
Pajares, M. F. (1992). Teachers’ beliefs and educational research: Cleaning up a messy construct. Review of Educational Research, 62(3), 307-332. https://doi.org/10.3102/00346543062003307
Postholm, M. B. (2012). Teachers’ professional development: A theoretical review. Educational Research, 54(4), 405-429. https://doi.org/10.1080/00131881.2012.734725
Richardson, V. (1996). The role of attitudes and beliefs in learning to teach. In J. Sikula (Ed.), Handbook of research on teacher education (2nd ed., pp. 102-119). Macmillan.
Rodríguez, A. G., & McKay, S. (2010). Professional development for experienced teachers working with adult English language learners. CAELA Network Brief. Center for Adult English Language Acquisition.
Schommer, M. (1994). Synthesizing epistemological belief research: Tentative understandings and provocative confusions. Educational Psychology Review, 6(4), 293-319. https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02213418
Sharma, B. K. (2012). Beyond social networking: Performing global Englishes in Facebook by college youth in Nepal. Journal of Sociolinguistics, 16(4), 483-509. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-9841.2012.00544.x
Simegn, B. (2014). EFL teachers’ self-initiated professional development: Perceptions and practices. Educational Research and Reviews, 9(21), 1109-1114. https://doi.org/10.5897/ERR2014.1898
Tanang, H., & Abu, B. (2014). Teacher professionalism and professional development practices in South Sulawesi, Indonesia. Journal of Curriculum and Teaching, 3(2), 25-42. https://doi.org/10.5430/jct.v3n2p25
Tsui, A. (2005). Expertise in teaching: Perspectives and issues. In K. Johnson (Ed.), Expertise in second language learning and teaching (pp. 167-189). Palgrave Macmillan. https://doi.org/10.1057/9780230523470_9.
Yadav, A., & Koehler, M. (2007). The role of epistemological beliefs in preservice teachers’ interpretation of video cases of early-grade literacy instruction. Journal of Technology and Teacher Education, 15(3), 335-361.
Yurtseven-Yılmaz, H., & Sever, S. (2021). A professional development analysis for Turkish language teachers: What did they expect? What have they found? Journal of Pedagogical Research, 5(1), 88-113. https://doi.org/10.33902/JPR.2021067243

Files

History

  • Receive Date: 06 October 2023
  • Revise Date: 01 December 2023
  • Accept Date: 06 December 2023
  • First Publish Date: 06 December 2023
  • Publish Date: 16 December 2023

Share

How to cite

Statistics