Teaching Grammar: Relationship between English Language Teachers’ Beliefs and Practices

Abstract

Teaching is process linked with cognition. Both teachers and students go through cognitive process while engaged in learning activity. In Pakistan students learn English up to graduation but most of the students are unable to write or speak English in correct and proper way. What is the reason behind this? Is it difficult to learn or there is a fault in our approach and method of teaching? What are the beliefs that language teachers hold in mind while teaching? Do their own learning experiences affect their teaching? What type of knowledge do they have regarding language learning and teaching? These are the questions that the researcher wants to address in this study. The basic aim of this study was to examine Language teachers’ beliefs and practices in relation to teaching grammar. Therefore, following objectives guided the aim of the study. To examine the background factors that hinder or promote enforcement of beliefs about teaching and learning English grammar into teaching practices, to investigate teachers’ instructive beliefs about teaching and learning English grammar and to compare the beliefs of secondary school English language teachers who are categorized with respect to certain demographic variables such as gender, qualification, local, and experience. The questions focused in the study were regarding teachers’ beliefs about grammar, relationship between beliefs and practice, difference between groups on the bases of gender, locale, academic and professional qualifications and experience. The study used survey method primarily to collect information from a bigger sample. A questionnaire-based survey was used to easily obtain information from a large number of participants in order to understand the beliefs of teachers in the context being studied. Multi stage sampling technique was used for this study. There are 36 districts in the province of Punjab. 8 districts were selected conveniently. At the second stage, keeping in view the demographic variables stratified sampling technique was adopted. In each district 20 schools were selected. 10 were urban and ten from rural area. viii Further stratum was made on the basis of gender. So 5 girls schools from urban area and 5 from rural areas were selected. Same selection criterion was applied for boys’ schools. All English language teachers teaching in selected schools were included in the sample. So it could be said that at the last stage of sampling census technique was adopted to ensure validity, reliability and generalizabillity of the results. The beliefs questionnaire used for the study was adopted. It was first used by Muhammad (2006) after taking permission from the author of the instrument slight adaptations were made in instrument. The Cronbach Alpha reliability coefficient of TBQ was 0.812. The data were collected from 160 schools from 8 districts from the Punjab province of Pakistan. All English language teachers teaching at secondary level in randomly selected schools from these districts were the participants of the study. The data gathered through questionnaire provided answers to the research questions of the study. After data entry, data were cleaned and made ready for analysis. The possible responses on each statement of the TBQ were assigned credence as: “Strongly agree” 5, “Agree” 4, “Neutral” 3, “Disagree” 2 and “Strongly disagree” 1. For data analysis through computer, data was re-coded and entered in SPSS 16.0 grid sheet. Conclusion could be made on the bases of results that no significant difference was found between groups belonging to both genders, locales, age, experience academic and professional qualification. Based on the findings of the study, it could be concluded that in general, teachers’ beliefs and practices were positively and significantly correlated. The values of Pearson r for almost all correlation analysis were positively high.