Reflecting on ESL Teacher Beliefs and Classroom Practices: A Case Study

Abstract

This paper presents a case study that investigated and compared the stated beliefs and observed classroom practices relating to language teaching of one experienced and one novice English language teacher. Areas where observed practices converged with or diverged from stated beliefs are explored and discussed with reference to factors which might have influenced particular practices with respect to grammar teaching. Throughout this study, the novice and experienced teachers are compared with one another. The findings indicate that teachers indeed possess a set of complex beliefs that are not always realized in their classroom practices for a variety of potential reasons: some of these might be directly related to the context of teaching. Further, findings from this study show some similarities with previous studies that have compared experienced teachers with novice teachers.