Teachers beliefs and reported classroom practices in EFL writing instruction at the selected high schools in ho chi minh city a thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of master of art

More systematically, English teachers‟ beliefs on the teaching of writing for both primary and high school students were also investigated in Abadi & Marzban 2012 according to four main

MINISTRY OF EDUCATION AND TRAINING

HO CHI MINH CITY OPEN UNIVERSITY

-

TEACHERS’ BELIEFS AND REPORTED CLASSROOM

PRACTICES IN EFL WRITING INSTRUCTION AT THE

SELECTED HIGH SCHOOLS IN HO CHI MINH CITY

A thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts (TESOL)

Submitted by TRUONG MINH HOA Supervised by Assoc Prof Dr PHAM VU PHI HO

Ho Chi Minh City, October 2016

STATEMENT OF AUTHORSHIP

I certify that this thesis entitled “Teachers’ Beliefs and Reported Classroom Practices in EFL Writing Instruction at the Selected High Schools in Ho Chi Minh City” is my own work

Except where reference is made in the text of the thesis, this thesis contain material published elsewhere or extracted in whole or in part from a thesis by which I have qualified for or been awarded another degree or diploma

No other person’s work has been used without due acknowledgement in the main text

of the thesis

This thesis has not been submitted for the award of any degree or diploma in any other tertiary institution

Cam Ranh City, October 2016

Truong Minh Hoa

I would like to express my particular gratitude to my beloved mother Pham Thi Lien and younger sister Truong Thi Phuong Hong Thao as well as my respectful teacher Truong Viet Khanh Trang (Dean of Faculty of Garment Technology and Fashion, Ly

Tu Trong Technical College) for their unconditional love, understanding, encouragement, financial and spiritual support over time and distance

I would like to thank my TESOL classmates, including Nguyen Thi Thu Thuy, Phan Thi Mien Thao, Mai Thi Ngoc Hanh, Luu Thi Huyen Tran, and Le Thi Minh Sang, who shared their constructive opinions on my thesis

I am also much obliged to the high school teachers, namely Vo Thi Bich Vien, Nguyen Le Yen Thuy, Van Thanh Minh Trung, Tran Thi Hoang Trang, Nguyen Thi Phuc Trinh, and Nguyen Thi My Chau, who enthusiastically helped me to distribute and collect questionnaires as well as participated in my interview sessions

I owe a great debt of gratitude to the anonymous participants who contributed data to this thesis

ABSTRACT

Writing in a foreign language is deemed to be the most difficult language skill to learners, especially at high school level; consequently, its teaching has become a challenging task for the high school teachers in Vietnamese context Teacher belief related literature indicates that what teachers do in the classroom is directly governed by what they think and believe Thereby, the current study adopted features of a survey research design in order to examine the EFL high school teachers’ beliefs about writing and its teaching, their actual classroom practices, as well as the interplays between their beliefs and practices in the realm of EFL writing instruction

A sample of seventy–six EFL teachers from the eight selected high schools situated in Ho Chi Minh City was recruited to the current survey The beliefs and practices of EFL writing instruction of these studied teachers were elicited through two instruments of thirty–nine–item questionnaires and semi–structured interviews Then the questionnaires were quantitatively analyzed and the interviews were qualitatively analyzed

Results of the study showed that most of the participants held different views/orientations about writing skill and teaching writing, consisting of form–based, cognitive process–based, functional social–based, and interactive social–based views; nevertheless, the form–based orientation was still most favored in their beliefs On the contrary, in practical, most of the high school teachers much followed the product approach, which underlies form–based orientation instead of different approaches This can evidently account for the low results of writing section in the National GCSE examination in consecutive recent years when high school students only were asked to learn sample writing texts by rote (form–based orientation) rather than being guided basic writing steps (process–based orientation) as well

as being developed their social awareness of what to be written (social–based orientation) From the interviews, there was evidence to reveal that high school teachers’ ability to transfer their beliefs into teaching practices was primarily impacted by schooling–related factors (e.g., class duration, curriculum, examination demands, teaching materials), and student–related factors (e.g., students’ lack of motivation, students’ knowledge and language proficiency) as well as teachers–related factors (e.g., teacher’ preparation time) Ultimately, some implications of this study for high school teachers are also discussed

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Page

STATEMENT OF AUTHORSHIP ……….i

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ……….ii

ABSTRACT ……… ……… iii

TABLE OF CONTENTS ………iv

LIST OF TABLES ……….viii

LIST OF FIGURES, CHARTS ………x

ABBREVIATIONS ……… ……… xi

Chapter One: INTRODUCTION 1.1 Background to the Study 1

1.2 Rationale for the Study ……… 5

1.3 Research Questions ………7

1.4 Significance of the Study ………8

1.5 Key Words ……… 9

1.6 Overview of the Thesis Chapters ……… 9

Chapter Two: LITERATURE REVIEW 2.1 Teaching Writing 11

2.1.1 Writing: Natures, Levels, and Aspects ……….11

2.1.1.1 Natures of Writing ………11

2.1.1.2 Writing Levels ……… 13

2.1.1.3 Aspects of Writing ……….……… 14

2.1.2 Theoretical Orientations to Teaching Writing ……….15

2.1.2.1 Behaviorist Learning Theory……… 16

2.1.2.2 Cognitive Learning Theory ……… 16

2.1.2.3 Social Constructivism Learning Theory ……… 16

2.1.3 Approaches to Teaching Writing ……….17

2.1.3.1 Product Approach ………17

2.1.3.2 Process Approach ………18

2.1.3.3 Genre–based Approach ………19

2.1.4 Roles of Writing Teacher ……….21

2.1.4.1 Knowledge Transmitter……….……22

2.1.4.2 Facilitator……….22

2.1.4.3 Feedback Provider ……… 24

2.2 Teacher Beliefs ……… 24

2.2.1 Definition of Teacher Beliefs ……… 24

2.2.2 Categories of Teacher Beliefs ……… 25

2.2.2.1 Teachers’ Beliefs about the Subject Matter ……….26

2.2.2.2 Teachers’ Beliefs about Teacher Roles and Teaching ……….28

2.2.2.3 Relationship between Beliefs about the Subject Matter, about Teacher Roles and Teaching ……… 28

2.2.3 Importance of Teacher Beliefs on Practices of Teaching Writing ……… 29

2.2.4 Factors Impacting Teacher Beliefs and Teachers’ Practices of Teaching Writing …… 30

2.3 Summary of English Writing Curriculum at Vietnamese High School ……… 31

2.3.1 English Textbooks for High School ………31

2.3.2 Objective of MOET towards Writing Skill at High School ………32

2.3.3 Description of the Writing Sections ………33

2.4 Studies on Teachers’ Beliefs and Practices in Teaching Writing ………34

2.5 Research Gap ………40

Chapter Three: METHODOLOGY 3.1 Pedagogical Settings and Participants ………42

3.1.1 Sampling Methods ……… 42

3.1.2 Pedagogical Settings ………44

3.1.3 Participants ……… 45

3.2 Research Design and Process ……… 46

3.2.1 Research Design ……… 46

3.2.2 Research Process ……… 47

3.2.2.1 Pre–study Interviews ………48

3.2.2.2 First Questionnaire Construct ……….51

3.2.2.3 Expert Comments on First Questionnaire ………51

3.3 Research Instruments ……… 54

3.3.1 Questionnaire for Teachers ……… 54

3.3.1.1 Rationale for Questionnaire ………54

3.3.1.2 Description of the Questionnaire ………55

3.3.2 Interview for Teachers ……….58

3.3.2.1 Rationale for Interview ………58

3.3.2.2 Description of the Interview ………59

3.4 Validity and Reliability ………60

3.4.1 Reliability ……….60

3.4.2 Validity ……….61

3.4.2.1 Content Validity ……… ……… 61

3.4.2.2 Construct Validity ………62

3.5 Data Collection ……… 63

3.5.1 Administering the Questionnaire ……….63

3.5.2 Conducting the Interview ……….64

3.6 Data Analysis Procedure ……… 66

3.6.1 Quantitative Analysis for Questionnaire ……… 66

3.6.2 Qualitative Analysis for Interview ……… 66

Chapter Four: FINDINGS and DICUSSION 4.1 Research Question 1 ………68

4.1.1 Beliefs about Importance and Nature of Writing ………69

4.1.1.1 Beliefs about Importance of Writing ………69

4.1.1.2 Beliefs about Nature of Writing ……… 73

4.1.2 Beliefs about Teacher Roles and Teaching Writing ………78

4.1.2.1 Beliefs about Teacher Roles ………79

4.1.2.2 Beliefs about Teaching Writing ……… ……81

4.1.3 Summary of the Teachers’ Beliefs ……… 87

4.1.3.1 Teachers’ Beliefs about the Importance of Writing to High School Students …… …88

4.1.3.2 Teachers’ Beliefs about the Nature of Writing at High School Context …… ………88

4.1.3.3 Teachers’ Beliefs about Teacher Roles in Writing Classroom ………88

4.1.3.4 Teachers’ Beliefs about Teaching ………89

4.2 Research Question 2 ……….90

4.2.1 Pre–writing phase ………91

4.2.2 During–writing phase ……… 93

4.2.3 After–writing phase ……….95

4.2.4 Summary of the Teachers’ Classroom Practices ……… ……… 97

4.3 Research Question 3 ……… 98

4.3.1 Form–based Orientation: From Beliefs to Classroom Practices ……… 99

4.3.2 Cognitive Process–based Orientation: From Beliefs to Classroom Practices ……… 100

4.3.3 Functional Social–based Orientation: From Beliefs to Classroom Practices …………102

4.3.4 Interactive Social–based orientation: From Beliefs to Classroom Practices………… 104

4.3.5 Summary of the Interplays between the Teachers’ Beliefs and Practices ……….105

Chapter Five: CONCLUSION 5.1 Summary of Key Findings ……….………108

5.1.1 The Teachers’ Beliefs about Importance and Nature of Writing, Teacher Roles and Teaching Orientations at High School Level ……….…108

5.1.2 The Teachers’ Actual Classroom Practices of EFL Writing Instruction at High Schools

………110

5.1.3 The Extent of Congruence between the Teachers’ Beliefs and Classroom Practices…111 5.2 Implications of the Findings ……… ………112

5.3 Limitations of the Study ……….……114

5.4 Recommendations for Further Research ……….……115

5.5 Contributions of the Study ………116

REFERENCES ……… 117

APPENDICES ……… 125

LIST OF TABLES

Page

Chapter Two: LITERATURE REVIEW

Table 2.1: Teacher Roles Proposed by Uddin (2014) ……… 23

Table 2.2: Teacher Beliefs Suggested by Some Authors ……… 25

Table 2.3a: Examples of Teachers’ Beliefs about Subject Matters ……… 26

Table 2.3b: Teachers’ Beliefs about Nature of Writing Skill ……… 27

Table 2.4: Objective of MOET (2006) toward Writing Skill at High School ……… …… 32

Table 2.5: Text Types of Writing Sections ……… ………… 33

Chapter Three: METHODOLOGY Table 3.1: The Pedagogical Settings ……… ……… 44

Table 3.2: Demographical Information of Participants ……… ……… 45

Table 3.3a: Results of Pre–study Interview 1……… ……… 48

Table 3.3b: Results of Pre–study Interview 2 ………… ……… 50

Table 3.4: Profiles of Participants in the Pilot Study……… …… 52

Table 3.5: The Link between Research Questions and Instruments ……….….………… 54

Table 3.6: Description of the Questionnaire (Part II) ……… ……… 56

Table 3.7: Description of the Questionnaire (Part III) ……… ……… 57

Table 3.8: Reliability Analysis (Cronbach’s Alpha) ……… ……… ….… 60

Table 3.9: Process of Questionnaire Delivery and Collection ……….… … 63

Table 3.10: Demographical Information of the Interviewees ……….………… 65

Chapter Four: FINDINGS and DISCUSSION Table 4.1: Teachers’ Beliefs about the Extent of Importance of Writing ………69

Table 4.2: Teachers’ Beliefs about Reasons for Importance of Writing ……….…….…71

Table 4.3: Teachers’ Beliefs about Nature of Writing ……….… … 74

Table 4.4: Teachers’ Beliefs about Teacher Roles ……… ………… 79

Table 4.5: Teachers’ Beliefs about Teaching Writing ……….……….……… 82

Table 4.6: Teachers’ Classroom Practices on Pre–writing Activities ……….… 91

Table 4.7: Teachers’ Classroom Practices on While–writing Activities ….……… 93

Table 4.8: Teachers’ Classroom Practices on After–writing Activities… ………….… 95

Table 4.9a: A Comparison between the Teachers’ Beliefs and Practices …… …………99

Table 4.9b: A Comparison between the Teachers’ Beliefs and Practices … ……….… 100

Table 4.9c: A Comparison between the Teachers’ Beliefs and Practices …… … … 102

Table 4.9d: A Comparison between the Teachers’ Beliefs and Practices……… 104

LIST OF FIGURES, CHARTS

Page

Chapter Two: LITERATURE REVIEW

Figure 2.1: Borg’s (2003) Framework ……… 30 Chapter Three: METHODOLOGY

Figure 3.1: Research Process ……… 47

Chapter Four: FINDINGS and DISCUSSION

Chart 4.1: Impacting Factors on Interplays between Teachers’ Beliefs and Practices … 106

ABBREVIATIONS

EFL: English as Foreign Language

ELT: English Language Teaching

GCSE: General Certificate for Secondary Education

MOET: Ministry of Education and Training

TESOL: Teaching English for Speakers of Other Languages

Chapter One

INTRODUCTION

1.1 Background to the study

In learning a foreign language, learners are subjected to four skills in a natural order

of acquisition that are listening, speaking, reading, and writing And the latter, writing, is deemed to be the most difficult language skill to be acquired (Mekki, 2012), requiring

“the mastery of a variety of linguistic, cognitive, and sociocultural competencies” (Barkaoui, 2007) As what Mekki (2012) asserts, writing is a “difficult, sophisticated, social activity and an important skill for language learners as well as native speakers” For linguistic factors, writing imposes a great necessity for careful and precise completion, organization and connection of sentences For cognitive factors, sometimes the task of writing is imposed on us and this may cause a loss of ideas For the psychological factors, there is a lack of interaction and feedback between the writer and the reader, the thing which makes writing a difficult task

According to Mekki (2012), one of primary causes making writing skill difficult to acquire is that students or teachers still believe that students‟ good writing ability derives from what they have learnt about language and text forms but ignore specific steps and collaborative strategies It can be inferred that in order to master writing skill, language learners not only need linguistic knowledge since “even with linguistic knowledge students often struggle to produce a cohesive piece of writing” (Uddin, 2014), but they also grasp their social awareness of writing contexts (Khanalizadeh & Allami, 2012) as well as their cognitive awareness of the processes they use to write (Hyland, 2003)

In helping learners develop their writing which is deemed such a sophisticated skill, it

is evidenced that “teachers are one of the key factors in delivering instruction that leads

to the development of competent literacy learners, [ ] to be pivotal in influencing students‟ literacy achievement” (Kraayenoord et al, 2009) In other words, what teachers

teach may have explicit effects on writing performance of their students (Nguyen Ho Hoang Thuy, 2009)

As teachers play such a critical role in developing learners‟ writing performance, their instructional beliefs have also become a key issue in education since “what they believe

as well as what they do not believe have powerful influence on their classroom behaviors” (Le Van Canh, 2011) This may originate from the view that “teachers are active, thinking decision–makers who make instructional choices by drawing on complex practically–oriented, personalized, and context–sensitive networks of knowledge, thoughts, and beliefs” (Borg, 2003) In specific, Kuzborska (2011) elaborates that

“teachers‟ beliefs influence their goals, procedures, materials, classroom interaction patterns, their roles, their students, and the schools they work in” Therefore, Richards et

al (2001) posit that “in order to understand how teachers approach their work, it is necessary to understand the beliefs and principles they operate from”

Indeed, teachers‟ beliefs in language education have been receiving an increased concern from educational researchers and extensively discussed in literature (e.g., Farrell

& Particia, 2005; Yin, 2006; Phipps & Borg, 2009; Khonamri & Salimi, 2010; Kuzborska, 2011; Li, 2012; Regassa & Teshome, 2015) since the 1970s (Zheng, 2009; Erkmen, 2014), significantly contributing to the exploration of teachers‟ beliefs, and the relationship between teachers‟ beliefs and practices (Zheng, 2009; Shinde & Karekatti, 2012) To put it different, exploration of teachers‟ pedagogical beliefs is at the heart of our understanding of their planning, instructional decisions, and classroom practices For example, Li (2012) emphasizes that “a teacher‟s educational beliefs in the language teaching–learning process will exert an imperceptible influence on forming active language teaching methods and will bring about an improvement in students‟ language abilities”

Specific to the field of writing instruction, in recent years, researchers have shown an increased interest in exploring how teachers think, feel and perceive about nature of

writing, their teacher roles and teaching in classroom, as well as the congruence between what they believe and what they actually do in writing instruction (e.g., Farrell, 2006; Khanalizadeh & Allami, 2012; Abadi & Marzban, 2012; Melketo, 2012; Corpuz, 2011; Uddin, 2014; Nigam, 2015; Gaitas & Martins, 2015)

Farrell (2006) posits that “teachers examine their values and beliefs about teaching and learning so that they can take more responsibility for their classroom actions” Empirically, the study showed that the participant believed that writing was an intellectual activity which takes a lot of time for thinking and analyzing; therefore, the participant took process approach to teaching writing It is found that teachers‟ beliefs have a direct effect on the teaching practices by transferring those beliefs into a practical reality In the similar vein, teachers‟ beliefs about nature of writing and teaching writing skill have also been found in Khanalizadeh & Allami (2012) The study heightened teachers‟ beliefs about theoretical orientations to writing including (1) writing as a formal system, (2) as a cognitive process, and (3) as a social activity More systematically, English teachers‟ beliefs on the teaching of writing for both primary and high school students were also investigated in Abadi & Marzban (2012) according to four main categories, comprising of (1) meaning of writing; (2) importance of writing; (3) teaching activities and practices; (4) feedback In term of age factor, differences in teaching writing skill should exist when we teach for different groups of students

Not only teachers‟ beliefs about writing and teaching writing have constantly been explored, but relationships between teachers‟ beliefs and their actual classroom practices

of writing instruction have also been published (e.g., Melketo, 2012; Uddin, 2014; Nigam, 2015) For examples, Uddin‟s (2014) study has yielded its findings that although the participants believed that writing as a process and student writers should follow several stages to write such as gathering idea, planning, revising, drafting, they were unable to practice in classrooms what they believed for some reasons including large classroom, exam oriented culture, demands of syllabus completion on time, low–level students, and time constraints Likewise, Nigam (2015) examined how beliefs impact

classroom writing instruction at Auburn Elementary School in the United States As what have been reported in this case, the teacher believed students needed understanding of the components of the process (e.g., brainstorming, planning, rough draft, final draft) which she modeled in her instruction Evidently, the participant highly employed process–orientation to teaching writing in her classroom Still, she admitted that in practical, beliefs were not always aligned with writing instruction for some causes such as demands

of assessment, professional development availability, challenges of the classroom context, and level of preparation for teaching writing Additionally, in Gaitas & Martins (2015), both form and content of writing were highly believed by the primary teachers; then these beliefs were consistently transferred into classroom organization that the participants organized writing activities in various configurations such as solo, pair or small group Clearly, the relationship between teachers‟ beliefs and their practices has been open to debate up to now, which is often impacted by multiple factors

Language teachers‟ beliefs and the interplay between teachers‟ beliefs and their actual practices have been extensively studied for different purposes Khanalizadeh & Allami (2012) sees that “the study of teachers‟ belief about teaching, learning, learners, and the influence it may have on teaching practices, activities, and learning outcomes” should be considered “to find effective teaching behaviors”, and “to assist teachers become effective professionals and increase students‟ achievement in core subject areas” (Melketo, 2012) Likewise, examining the links between personal theories, practices will

“help clarify how teachers change their approaches to teaching and learning over time” (Richards et al., 2001) With a broader aim, the exploration of teachers‟ beliefs and practices has “a huge impact on the work of curriculum reformers, policy makers and other educational supervisors and leaders” (Msendekwa, 2015)

1.2 Rationale for the study

Very recently, since the academic year of 2013–2014, free writing a paragraph in response to a given topic has been called for the English paper of the National GCSE examination in Vietnamese context Ironically, the results of these papers mainly went around between 2.0 to 3.5 points Essentially, these unexpected results originate from the fact that a large number of high school candidates either did not know how to construct the text or skipped their writing section, which holds twenty percent of the whole English paper (TuoitreOnline, 2015)

Surprisingly, this problem also occurred in this academic year of 2015–2016 According to what Vietnamnet (2016) has reported, many candidates of 2016 National GCSE examination in Ho Chi Minh city either did not complete their writing section in time or skipped it Some students revealed that they found writing section really difficult

In addition, others admitted that because of learning some sample texts which were provided by their teachers by rote, when the topic in the writing section had a little change, they could not manage it It is interpreted that most high school students do not know how to do free writing, and they do not handle the strategies for composing texts independently but actually practice writing in a controlled way This is like what Khanalizadeh & Allami (2012) described about teaching–learning writing in Iran,

“writing skill is often limited to making sentences, and the grammatical points of those sentences are the most important parts of learning how to write” To add more, Tran (2007) raised her voice that writing skill has been conducted in the classroom in Vietnam

as “an individual activity with the teacher as the sole audience, and the students are quite quiet” It means there is a lack of interaction among students in writing classroom

Such low results of writing section in National GCSE examination in consecutive recent years have evidently proved that writing is a “difficult, sophisticated, social activity and an important skill for language learners” (Mekki, 2012), requiring “the mastery of a variety of linguistic, cognitive, and sociocultural competencies” (Barkaoui,

2007) Alternatively saying, being capable of writing well, it requires more than linguistic knowledge and memory of sample texts (i.e., form–based view); it also needs learner writers know how to construct their texts independently (i.e., cognitive process–based view) and an active interaction with other writers in learning process (i.e., social–based view) As a matter of fact, having high school students imitate and memorize the sample texts might only have its temporary effect on examinations to some extent

The aforementioned alarming situation has raised some questions such as whether writing skill is “truly perceived” and “equally treated” as other language skills in high school context; and whether teaching activities and teacher roles performed in writing classroom are genuinely useful to help high school students develop their own writing ability Thereby, investigating how high school teachers help their students learn and develop their writing skill in practical should be also taken into consideration Indeed, the researcher found it crucial since understanding of teachers‟ actual classroom practices could partly explain for such low results of writing section in the National GCSE examination in successive recent years Repeatedly, this necessity stems from “teachers are one of the key factors in delivering instruction that leads to the development of competent literacy learners” (Kraayenoord et al, 2009)

As what Khanalizadeh & Allami (2012) said, students‟ low writing performance and that writing is the least developed language skill “could be partly due to the effect of the teachers‟ beliefs about writing and its teaching” Accordingly, “teachers‟ beliefs are important concepts in understanding teachers‟ thought processes, instructional practices” (Zheng, 2009) On the other hand, in Vietnam, exploration of language teachers‟ beliefs

as well as the relationship between teachers‟ beliefs and practices in language education seems scanty and little concerned (Le Van Canh, 2011) Thereby, it was necessarily important for the researcher to explore high school teachers‟ beliefs about the importance

of writing skill; how they perceive about the nature of writing; how these teachers understand about their teacher roles and teaching orientations in writing instruction at high school context

A considerable amount of literature indicates that the teachers‟ practices in the classroom are affected by their beliefs (Regassa & Teshome, 2015) However, while some researchers reported a high degree of congruence between teacher beliefs and their practice of teaching, others have identified incongruence between teacher belief and what actually they do in classroom Put simply, “teachers have a set of belief systems that are sometimes not reflected in their classroom practices for various complicated reasons” (Khader, 2012) Because of this, the researcher made an attempt to examine whether what high school teachers actually do should be governed by their belief systems If this relationship between beliefs and classroom practices is incongruent to some extent, then several attempts would have been made to seek which factors may affect connection between teachers‟ pedagogical beliefs and their classroom practices of teaching writing skill in high school context

In sum, the purpose of the study was to work out the answer to the question of what beliefs the selected high school teachers in Ho Chi Minh City hold about the importance and nature of writing, as well as about their roles and orientations to teaching writing for high school level Besides, the study aimed to explore what actual classroom activities of teaching writing the recruited teachers frequently conduct in their writing class Finally, the survey pursued to investigate whether there are any differences between the teachers‟ stated beliefs and their actual classroom practices in teaching writing for their high school students, and then some impacting factors on this interplay were consequently sought

1.3 Research questions

In order to fulfill the purpose stated above, three research questions were addressed as follows:

R–Q 1: What beliefs do the teachers at selected high schools hold in terms of (1)

importance and nature of writing; (2) teacher roles and teaching process?

R–Q 2: What teaching practices in writing classrooms do the teachers at selected high

schools report?

R–Q 3: Are there any differences between the teachers‟ stated beliefs and their

reported classroom practices in teaching writing? If yes, what factors impact the teachers‟ transfer of their beliefs into writing teaching practices?

1.4 Significance of the study

As mentioned earlier, students in many Vietnamese high schools in common and in

Ho Chi Minh City high schools in particular have not learned EFL writing skill in its own right In specific, these students normally imitate and memorize the sample texts, which might only have its temporary effect on examinations if any, but have not known how to construct their own writing texts independently and meaningfully so far With the hope of enabling the high school students to manage their writing performance by themselves (i.e., process–based orientation) and in a meaningful way (i.e., social–based orientation) rather than only possess separate linguistic knowledge (form–based orientation), the researcher was inspired to conduct this survey Some significance of the study was found out as following:

The first significance: There are no many studies on the high school teachers‟ beliefs

about writing and its teaching in Vietnam context In other words, research done in the realm of teachers‟ belief system of teaching writing and classroom practices at high school level appears in the country to be scanty In particular, almost no studies examine the high school teachers‟ perceptions of writing nature and teaching orientations so–called systematically in accordance to different form–based, social–based, cognitive process–based perspectives

The second significance: The exploration of the high school teachers‟ beliefs and

their actual classroom practices plays a pivotal role in helping these teachers modify their current teaching behaviors so that the teachers may increase students‟ stable achievement

in EFL writing skill, which deems to be equally important to other language skills in

language acquisition at any degree In means that writing skill at high schools must be developed via such a learner–centered environment in which (1) students are provided necessary language input (form–based view); (2) students have opportunity for their independent writing (cognitive process–based view); (3) students capture the context and purpose of what to be written (functional social–based view); (4) students participate in collaborative activities (interactive social–based view)

1.5 Key words

While a variety of definitions of the two terms “teachers‟ beliefs” and “classroom practices”, this paper will use the definitions suggested by Richards (1998) and Khader (2012)

Teacher beliefs: The information, attitudes, values, expectations, theories, and assumptions about teaching and learning that teachers build up over time and bring with them to the classroom (Richards, 1998), which influence their classroom practices

(Khader, 2012)

Classroom practices: A set of teaching strategies and methods of instruction

employed in the classroom (Khader, 2012)

1.6 Overview of the Thesis Chapters

The current chapter, Introduction, presents the general interest of the study, the

research purpose, research questions and significance of the study

As the name suggests, in chapter two, Literature Review, the theoretical background

to this research is provided by reviewing the areas of interest to the study Foremost, it looks at the general background related to writing and its teaching Following that, teacher belief systems in connection to nature of writing and its teaching will be discussed, consisting of definition, categories, importance and impacting factors between the connections between teachers‟ beliefs and their actual classroom actions Most importantly, the chapter moves on to summarize some related empirical studies which

examined the relationships between teachers‟ belief systems and classroom practices in the realm of teaching writing Based on what have already been done with regard to the study‟s field, some research gaps are provided to situate the study itself

The design and method of this study are presented in chapter three, Methodology In

specific, this chapter will present the context and population, data collection methods and how they were designed and developed, in addition to other methodological concerns such as the reliability and validity as well as ethical issues of the research area Also, it describes how the data were collected and which tools were used in the analysis process, and how the data were presented

Chapter 4, Findings and Discussion, provides a comprehensive presentation and

discussion of the results of the study obtained from the analyses of questionnaires and interviews

As the name suggests, in Chapter 5, Conclusion, the main findings of the study will be

precisely summarized Some contributions of this work are then presented in this chapter Besides, the last chapter of this work reveals the limitations and offers suggestions for further research

Chapter Two

LITERATURE REVIEW

The aim of this chapter is to present the theoretical background used to underpin this study, highlighting nature of writing and its teaching approaches, as well as teachers‟ belief systems which directly or indirectly affect teachers‟ instructional practices in teaching writing The chapter is divided into five main parts The first part (2.1) looks at the general background related to writing and its teaching, including nature, levels and aspects of writing; theoretical orientations and approaches to teaching writing; writing teacher roles The second part (2.2) deals with teacher belief systems in connection to nature of writing and its teaching This part provides definition, categories, importance and impacting factors between the connections between teachers‟ beliefs and their actual classroom actions The third part (2.3) summarizes English writing curriculum at Vietnamese high school Following this, the chapter moves on to review some related empirical studies which have examined the relationships between teachers‟ belief systems and classroom practices so far in the realm of teaching writing, in the fourth part (2.4) Based on what have already been done with regard to the study‟s field, the fifth part (2.5) draws out some research gaps which make the researcher attempt to occupy in the existing body of literature and situate itself

2.1 Teaching Writing

In this section, the general background related to nature of writing and its teaching will be reviewed, consisting of (1) natures, levels, aspects of writing; (2) theoretical orientations to teaching writing; (3) teaching approaches; (4) writing teacher‟s roles

2.1.1 Writing: Natures, Levels and Aspects

2.1.1.1 Natures of Writing

The natures of writing are variously described by some experts

From a linguistic perspective, Harmer (2004) believes that writing encourages students to focus on accurate language use In other words, linguistic accuracy (e.g., vocabulary or grammar, linkers) is the main concern of writing act

Conversely, in Grami‟s (2010) work, the author reviews some other researchers‟ works, describing writing as a complicated cognitive activity Then he explains writing as complex cognitive act because it “demands careful thought, discipline, and concentration, and it is not just a simple direct production of what the brain knows or can do at a particular moment” To illustrate, Graham (1997, in Nguyen Thanh Huy, 2015) points out key components in writing process: (1) knowledge of writing and writing topics, (2) skill for producing text, (3) processes for motivating participants to write with enthusiasm, and (4) directing thought and actions through strategies to achieve specific writing goals

In another point, Hyland (2003) emphasizes writing as a social activity which

“expressing a culturally recognized purpose, reflecting particular kind of relationship and acknowledging an engagement in a given community” and “through using language called genres” In addition, the author provides another aspect of what is called “social activity” by “writing is a purposeful and communicative activity that responds to other people and other texts” In this circumstance, teacher and peer feedback is mentioned as

an important role in students‟ writing development

Based upon the natures of writing undergone by different perspectives in the existing body of literature, the researcher can draw out some potential writing natures such as

 Writing is a form–focused or linguistic accuracy–based activity;

 Writing is a cognitive activity adhered to steps of a writing process;

 Writing is a social activity within specific writing goals;

 Writing is a social activity in term of interaction among writer and readers

2.1.1.2 Writing levels

Learners usually learn and practice “the art of putting words together” (Harmer, 2004)

according to two levels: sentential level (between one to two sentences) and textual

level (paragraphs or text genres)

Writing at sentential level

Harmer (2004) states that the kind of writing at sentential level is often used for

“grammar reinforcement”; later, he exemplifies that “students are given one or two model sentences and then have to write similar sentences based on information they are given”

In more academic fashion, Dikilitaş (2012) describes the sentential level as “grammatical features of syntax at surface level representing semantics at deep structure”

Referring to the reality of teaching English at high school, writing at sentential level

often occurs in grammar classes (E Language Focus) In these classes, sentence writing

mostly deals with accuracy of grammatical structures through students‟ doing some exercises such as transformation, matching, arrangement, etc Seemingly, writing at this level in Vietnamese high schools focuses mostly learning grammar rather than learning to write English as a skill in its own right Thus, the study merely aims to the teaching of

writing English at textual level (D Writing section), that is, paragraph or text genres

Writing at textual level

On the textual level of writing, Dikilitaş (2012) reveals it is „functional features of cohesion at surface level leading to coherence at deep structure‟ In other words, beyond the sentence, the writers will have to organize their ideas into cohesive and coherent paragraphs and texts Regarding writing at textual level, since writing is a means of communication, “fulfils a set of communicative needs, and accomplishes particular purpose” (Hyland, 2003), texts underlie different genres, or text types

In “D Writing” sections of Tieng Anh 10, Tieng Anh 11 and Tieng Anh 12, the

coursebook series used to teach English subject at high school, students are exposed to

different text types when they learn writing English Apparently, it is essential to mention these text genres, which delineates the background of teaching English writing for selected high schools in Ho Chi Minh City

2.1.1.3 Aspects of Writing

In An introduction to Applied Linguistics of Schmitt (2010), the author points out that

writing involves the cycle of three aspects, that is, (1) relational aspect; (2) strategic aspect; and (3) textual aspect

Relational aspect: “Writing is always embedded in a rhetorical situation–a particular

social […] under which written expression and communication take place” (Schmitt, 2010) Likewise, “Halliday argues that we have developed very specific ways of using language to accomplish our goals, which means that texts are related to social contexts” (Hyland, 2003) From the researcher‟s perspective, writing is purposeful at first which is used to achieve certain goals (e.g., conviction, invitation, report); secondly, writing is contextual, attached to particular social situations (e.g., school, family, society, etc.) Therefore, learner writers should be required to own “genre knowledge” (Schmitt, 2010) Consequently, one of useful means for enhancing student writers‟ social awareness is that teachers use suitable authentic materials in the language classroom since these resources are designed for real–life use for interactional and transactional purposes (Maroko, 2010)

Strategic aspect: Schmitt (2010) states that “writers draw on various strategies to

assess the rhetorical situation and respond to it by developing written text” It means that learner writers must handle their certain ways to compose their written text according to

the given rhetorical context Regarding writing teachers, Schmitt then asserts that

“understanding the strategic aspect of writing is important for writing teachers because it enables them to teach writing rather than teach about writing” It is believed that to help students write effectively, construct ideas meaningfully and build up form of the text correctly, teachers need to select appropriate instructional methods Also, teachers should

instruct students how to write (i.e., the steps to manipulate their writing such as planning, organizing ideas, choosing linguistic features) instead of merely linguistic knowledge

Textual aspect: For textual aspect of writing, Halliday (1973, in Schmitt, 2010)

claims that besides constructing the meaning of their ideas, writers also need to build up the meaning that help the readers navigate through the text It is obvious that writers should note whether readers can understand what to be written by the writers or not Put simply, writing texts should be “constructed through the use of particular written discourse features” (Schmitt, 2010), assuring coherence and cohesion of writing

2.1.2 Theoretical Orientations to Teaching Writing

Teaching has been defined in several ways by theorists and educational practitioners.Over the past century, educational psychologists and researchers have posited many theories to explain how individuals acquire, organize and deploy skills and knowledge In the realm of teaching writing as a language skill, Khanalizadeh & Allami (2012) mention three major theoretical orientations: (1) a formal system, (2) a cognitive process, and (3) a social activity Back to 2003, Hyland also proposes such theoretical orientations to teaching writing, namely:

(1) Behaviorist learning theories: Writing is seen as a product constructed from the

writer‟s command of grammar and lexical knowledge; writing development is considered

to be the result of imitating and manipulating models provided by the teacher

(2) Cognitive learning theory: Writing is emphasized as a cognitive process,

reflecting on the strategies students use to write

(3) Social constructivism learning theory: Writing is seen a social activity, (1) being

negotiated and acquired through interaction in a social context, (2) language forms are imbedded in specific social context to perform certain language functions

It is noteworthy to take these theoretical orientations into account which are served as

a basis for the study Below is a general review of the three educational theories in connection to the natures of writing and teaching approaches

2.1.2.1 Behaviorist learning theory

According to Ertmer & Newby (1993), who make comparisons among behaviorism, cognitivism and constructivism, “behaviorists attempt to prescribe strategies that are most useful for building and strengthening stimulus–response associations (Winn, 1990), including the use of instructional cues, practice, and reinforcement” Regarding the realm

of teaching and learning writing English, it is inferred from these behaviorists that before asking students to write, teachers will provide relevant language forms (e.g., vocabulary and grammar), offer model texts and then let them practice and manipulate

However, Ertmer & Newby (1993) later criticize that “behavioral principles cannot adequately explain the acquisition of higher level skills or those that require a greater depth of processing” Agreeing with this view, the researcher believes if strictly applying the behavioral principles to teaching writing as a skill, teachers might impede students‟ logical thinking and mental capacity in “sharing personal meanings” (Hyland, 2003)

2.1.2.2 Cognitive learning theory

Cognitive learning theory mainly studies the nature of knowledge, the way of obtaining knowledge and how to apply it (Li, 2008) According to Li (2008), “from the learner‟s preparation to the completion of English writing a series of mental activities are involved: logical thinking, reasoning and deduction Learners need to conceive the ideas, choose the appropriate words and material to construct the paragraphs, complete the sentences in logical order, use certain writing techniques and do the revisions, etc.” Therefore, Li concedes that “the English writing process is actually a cognitive process”

2.1.2.3 Social constructivism learning theory

Vygotsky (1978), who initiated social constructivism learning theory, supports that knowledge is best constructed when there is “collaborative construction of knowledge through social negotiation, not competition among learners for recognition” In the field

of second language writing, a number of researchers suggest that students should work

collaboratively during the writing process in order to develop their writing skills During this collaboration, learners share responsibility for the quality of the produced text, making decisions on different aspects of that text

In the writing classes, under this theory, students are “encouraged to participate in the activities of meaning exchange and negotiation with their more capable people such as peers and teacher” (Luu Trong Tuan, 2011) Learning writing in this way, he believes that, “can remove the feeling of isolation which bothers many learners when writing and

at the same time, help student writers have positive reinforcements about the knowledge

of linguistics, content and ideas in the composing of texts”

2.1.3 Approaches to Teaching Writing

There are three main teaching approaches that are shaped on the basis of the

aforementioned learning theories, including product approach, process approach and

genre–based approach Discussion of each approach is presented as following

2.1.3.1 Product Approach

This approach encourages students to produce a final product similar to a model text which is normally provided by teachers More specific, “in an ordinary product approach, learners are given an ordinary example of writing, which they are then required to follow and adapt in order to re–create a section of original text” (Al–Hammadi & Sidek, 2015) Concerning product approach, Hyland (2003) identifies four stages to writing:

Familiarization: Learners study a text to understand its grammar and vocabulary; Controlled writing: Learners manipulate fixed patterns, from substitution tables; Guided writing: Learners imitate model texts–usually filling in gaps, completing texts,

or writing parallel texts;

Free writing: Learners use the patterns they have developed to write a letter, essay, etc

It is indicated that the role of teacher in this approach is a provider of model language and guided exercises and corrector of errors when the final error–free product is created

In closing, grammar, vocabulary and mechanics are highly emphasized instead of content, process, audience and purpose of writing (Bae, 2011) Product approach sees that writing is a form–based activity, and this trait makes product approach different from other approaches Clearly, product approach to teach writing is buttressed by the marriage

of structural linguistics and behaviorist learning theories

2.1.3.2 Process Approach

Cited in Alodwan & Ibnian (2014), Tribble (1996) defines process approach as “an approach to the teaching of writing which stresses the creativity of the individual writer, and which pays attention to the development of good writing practices rather than the imitation of models” It is inferred that this approach drives the nature of writing as a cognitive process

Focusing on process of writing activity rather than final product, Matsuda (2003) opines “process approach emphasized the view of writing as a process of developing organization as well as meaning Invention strategies, multiple drafts, and formative feedback–both by teacher and by peers became important parts of writing instruction” Talking about the role of teacher, Badger & White (2000) concede that “the teacher primarily facilitates the learners‟ writing” instead of “providing input or stimulus”; while students are given considerable freedom within the task Generally speaking, the process approach is learner–centered

Process approach to teaching writing, with the researcher‟s perspective, embraces some traits of cognitive learning, social constructivism theories:

Cognitive learning theory: Student writers will spend mental activities until producing the final draft Essentially, they need to conceive relevant ideas, choose appropriate words and linkers to construct the paragraphs, complete sentences in logical order, etc

Social constructivism theory: In brainstorming phase, students can negotiate with other students to explore ideas for the topic In revision phase, students will exchange their first draft to other students for peer feedback on both form and content

2.1.3.3 Genre–based Approach

In definition, genre or text type refers to “abstract, socially recognised ways of using language” (Hyland, 2007) In other words, genre–based approach emphasizes the importance of exploring the social and cultural context of language use on a piece of writing (Hammond & Derewianka, 2001, in Luu Trong Tuan, 2011) Put simply, writing

is used as a vehicle of achieving particular communicative goals in accordance to specific social situations

To apply the approach to instructional process for writing skill, Callaghen & Rothery (1988, in Sawangsamutchai & Rattanavich, 2016) develop the three–phase teaching–learning cycle: (1) Modeling, (2) Joint negotiation of text, (3) Independent construction

Modeling: “The explicit teaching of patterns of lexico–grammatical, rhetorical features to enhance learners‟ understanding and interpretation of particular communicative situation” (Sawangsamutchai & Rattanavich, 2016) Understandably, “in order to master the written genres, students need direct instruction; genre forms should therefore be explicitly taught through the analytic study of models” (Martin, 1993, in Elashri, 2013) It is indicated that this phase of genre–based approach is like to Familiarization stage of product one Nevertheless, while product approach focuses the model text on analysis of linguistic features, genre–based one analyzes genre schematic structure of the model text

Joint negotiation of text: “The stage of combining a learners‟ background knowledge with the structure and features of genre in focus learned in the modeling phase to compose new text as the teacher guides or assists learners to organize material into coherent text” (Sawangsamutchai & Rattanavich, 2016) In the same vein, “joint negotiation of text refers to the stage when learners carry out exercises which manipulate relevant language forms” (Elashri, 2013) Again, the researcher captures convergence between this second phase of genre–based approach and Controlled and Guided Writing stages of product one in which learners do a couple of controlled activities in relation to what to be analyzed from the model text before their free writing

Independent construction: The phase requires “learners to draw the schematic structures and linguistic features they have learnt in the previous stages to write their own text, encouraging learners to build collaborative skills” (Sawangsamutchai & Rattanavich, 2016) According to Luu Trong Tuan (2011), “schematic structure refers to internal structure or text organization of the text–type in forms of introduction, body and conclusion while linguistic features consist of linguistic aspects such as grammar, vocabulary, connectors” In comparison, the final phase of genre–based approach is similar to process approach in which writers construct their ideas independently, exchange with their friends for revision

Normally, teaching–learning cycle of genre–based consists of three aforementioned phases; yet, Hyland (2007) and Liang (2015) propose one more phase alternatively called

“Setting the context” or “Building knowledge of the field” beforehand Hyland (2007) describes the phase as “revealing genre purposes and the settings in which it is commonly used”; then Liang (2015) asserts that “the stage is extremely important in that overall knowledge of the cultural and social contexts of the topic is built and developed” For instance, teacher can develop an understanding of the social function and purpose of the

text by eliciting students to think: What is the text about? Who wrote it and who will read

it? Why the text is written? (Kongpetch, 2006, in Liang, 2015)

Derewianka (1990, in Luu Trong Tuan, 2011) provides six main school text types according to their primary social purposes: (1) Narratives: tell a story, usually to entertain; (2) Recount: To tell what happened; (3) Information reports: provide factual information; (4) Instruction: tell the listeners or readers what to do; (5) Explanation: Explain why or how something happens; (6) Expository texts: Present a viewpoint

In summary, it is obviously captured that there is an overlap to some extent among product, process and genre–based approaches Foremost, product and genre–based approaches (in Modeling and Joint negotiation of text stages) share the common traits that students are exposed to the model text and provided with exercises to develop related

linguistic and genre forms Similarly, genre–based (in Independent construction stage) and process approaches also resemble to each other in which students by themselves will construct their own ideas, choose relevant linguistic features and then exchange with their friends It is indicated that genre–based approach is buttressed by three educational theories, that is, behaviorist learning, cognitive learning, and social constructivism

Apparently, when probing high school teachers‟ actually practices of teaching writing, the study will focus much more on specific teaching activities than teaching approaches

to avoid duplication and complexity for analysis This is like what Uddin (2014) requests,

“teachers need orientation regarding different approaches to teaching writing other than what they follow along with practical demonstration on how each approach functions” Indeed, due to the reality that high school students are exposed to different text types when they learn writing, the researcher intentionally generate questionnaire items about teachers‟ classroom practices in connection to activities of genre–based approach which overarches the two other approaches and the three aforementioned educational theories

2.1.4 Roles of Writing Teacher

Richards & Rodgers (1986, in Al–Hammadi & Sidek, 2015) claim that teacher roles are related to a set of issues including: (1) The kind of job teachers are required to fulfill; (2) The extent of control an educator has over the learning practices adopted; (3) The extent to which teacher can decide what is to be used in educational process; (4) The trends of interaction that come about between learners and educators It can be inferred that according to particular subject matter and learner characteristics, teachers will have

to determine which roles to be fulfilled and to what extent these roles manifest

Regarding teaching English writing, which roles do writing teachers can perform in their writing class? To what extent of control does a writing teacher can take on his students‟ learning to write? Which role is fulfilled in term of interaction between teacher and students as well as among students in writing classroom? These questions provoke the researcher to review some main teacher roles in literature

In the fourth edition book “The Practice of English Language Teaching”, Harmer

(2001) presents several terms to describe a particular kind of teacher Nevertheless, he categorizes these terms into two main groups:

2.1.4.1 Knowledge Transmitter

In definition, knowledge transmitter is indicated as “performer” (Harmer, 2001) Ihedioha (2012) describes that a knowledge transmitter “emphasizes the need to give pupils basic facts and information before they can be expected to think for themselves” Afterwards, this author argues that with this deductive model, “so much of the work of learning is controlled and directed by the teacher”, and therefore “some students will do better under learning conditions that are fewer teachers directed and controlled” (Sprinthall & Sprinthall, 1990, in Ihedioha, 2012)

Applauding Harmer‟s (2001) and Ihedioha‟s (2012) views about the overused role of knowledge transmitter in classroom, the researcher further posits that direct transmission

of knowledge or provision of comprehensive input is necessary, nonetheless, especially for low–level students Supporting it, Nguyen Ho Hoang Thuy (2009) believes that

“language teachers need to provide learners with certain input before asking them to write” However, the extent of this role should be taken into consideration According to personal view, the researcher expects that the role of knowledge transmitter needs combining with others flexibly so that students‟ learning may be effectively manifested

2.1.4.2 Facilitator

Under learner–centered perspective, many educators think that when teacher plays the role of a facilitator, students may be motivated to learn EFL/ESL more effectively Harmer (2001) uses “facilitator” to describe another kind of teacher, “who fosters learner autonomy through the use of groupwork and pairwork, and by acting as more of a resource than a transmitter of knowledge” As a facilitator in writing classrooms, teachers should perform some following typical tasks:

 Organizing students to do various writing activities (Harmer, 2001) such as brainstorming (Mohammad & Hussein, 2013);

 Provoking the students into having ideas when they get stuck (Harmer, 2004);

 Organizing writing activities collaboratively through the use of pairwork and group work (Storch, 2005) such as peer feedback (Alnasser, 2013);

 Create a favorable environment for students to write a lot (Uddin, 2014)

Admittedly, when the teacher role is transferred from a knowledge transmitter to a facilitator, students become almost proactive in their learning to write They actively participate in writing activities in a cooperative environment In reality, is it feasible that high school teachers just play the role of facilitator in their writing classroom instead of knowledge transmitter? Do the teachers expect a harmonized combination between the two roles? These arguments will be sought in the following chapters once the study explored the teachers‟ beliefs in teaching writing at high school

Coincidentally, Uddin (2014) also indicates two contrasting roles of a teacher in writing classroom, similar to Harmer‟s (2001) two categories: the first category implies

teacher as a transmitter of knowledge and the second, teacher as a facilitator

Table 2.1 – Teacher Roles Proposed by Uddin (2014)

The first category

Teachers

Help students develop ideas

Provide models of texts

Give feedback on accuracy of language

Teacher–centred writing classroom

Teacher as a knowledge transmitter

The second category

Teachers

Encourage students to write

Create a favorable environment for students to write a lot

Facilitate collaborative tasks

Student–centred writing classroom

Teacher as a facilitator

Beside the role of knowledge transmitter and of facilitator, the researcher would like

to add the role of feedback provider, which directly helps both high school teacher and students aware of students‟ strengths and weaknesses in writing English

2.1.4.3 Feedback Provider

Providing feedback is an indispensable part of writing development, and there cannot

be denied the necessity of teachers‟ providing feedback on students‟ writing In term of

time, teachers‟ providing feedback can occur at two phases of writing class, While

writing and After writing In term of types, feedback can be both on form and content of

writing, in which: (1) Feedback on form includes grammar and mechanics, i.e spelling, punctuation and vocabulary; (2) Feedback on content focuses on organization, ideas and amount of detail (Fathman & Walley, 1990, in Zaman & Azad, 2012)

Concerning the reality of teaching writing English at the selected high schools in Ho Chi Minh city, which criteria do the teachers employ to provide feedback on students‟ writing? This question will be dealt with in the following chapters until the study examined the teachers‟ educational beliefs and their actual activities

2.2 Teacher Beliefs

Over the past thirty years, research has significantly contributed to the study of teachers‟ beliefs, and the interplay between teachers‟ beliefs and practices, important to both pre–service and in–service teacher education (Zheng, 2009; Shinde & Karekatti,

2012) “Teacher belief is a complicated phenomenon involving various aspects”

(Khanalizadeh & Allami, 2012); thus, the researcher makes it clear by its definition,

categories, factors and its importance on teachers‟ instructional choices

2.2.1 Definition of Teacher Beliefs

Regarding the mainstream education, Yang, et al (2014) state that “teacher beliefs are referred to as a teachers‟ knowledge system with respect to language teaching and learning and a network that teacher would tap into when it comes to decision making

instruction” This definition, as for the researcher, reflects relationship between beliefs and practices and posits the need to study teachers‟ beliefs in connection to practices

Due to the fact that the definition of teacher belief is shady in the education literature, numerous terms have been employed to conceptualize the term “teacher belief” Borg (2003, in Uddin, 2014) conceptualizes teacher belief what he names “teacher cognition”

by sixteen terms, “knowledge, theories, attitudes, images, assumptions, metaphors, conceptions, perspective about teaching, teachers, learning, students, subject matter, curricula, materials, instructional activities, and self”

Succinctly stated, teacher beliefs are cognitive tools with which powerfully affect or control a teacher‟ behaviors, instructional choices, material development, etc

2.2.2 Categories of Teacher Beliefs

Teachers‟ beliefs have been categorized into various types by researchers (e.g., William & Burden, 1997; Yin, 2006; Zheng, 2009; Chai, 2010; Fives & Buehl, 2012)

Table 2.2 – Teacher Beliefs Suggested by Some Authors

William & Burden 1997 (1) language learning; (2) learners;

(3) themselves as language teachers

Yin 2006 (1) learners and learning; (2) language teaching;

(3) subject matter

Zheng 2009

(1) learners and learning; (2) language teaching;

(3) subject matter; (4) self;

(5) professional development

Chai 2010 (1) knowledge and learning (epistemological beliefs);

(2) teaching (pedagogical beliefs) Fives & Buehl 2012

(1) self; (2) content and context;

(3) curriculum; (4) students;

(5) learning and teaching (6) knowledge

Among aforementioned various types of teacher beliefs, the researcher grasps the two most common ones of teacher beliefs, respectively (1) beliefs about nature of the subject matter, and (2) beliefs about teacher roles and teaching process Based upon these types

of beliefs, the study can develop the content and layout of the questionnaires and interviews more systematically

2.2.2.1 Teachers’ beliefs about the subject matter

Calderhead (1996, in Yin, 2006) suggests that “each subject area within the school curriculum tends to be associated with a range of beliefs concerning what the subject is about, what it means to know the subject” Yin then cites several works in relation to teachers‟ beliefs about subject matter such as

Table 2.3a – Examples of Teachers’ Beliefs about Subject Matters

Author (year) Subject matter Sub–categories of beliefs Examples

Teachers having a didactic–orientation believed that science consisted of “just facts”, which were effectively transmitted to students through lectures, memorization, and practice

Teachers with a discovery–orientation assumed that science rested on the discovery of truth

Grossman

(1991)

English literature

Text–orientation Reader–orientation Context–orientation

The text–orientation viewed the meaning of a literary text to be in the text itself, in the language, tone, theme, and structure used

The reader–orientation considered the meaning of a literary text to be personal and subjective

Similarly, in the realm of teaching writing skill, it is quite important to explore teachers‟ perceptions or views about nature of writing due to the fact that “teachers can have very limited to very eclectic views of their subject and that in some cases their ideas about subjects vary from one context to another” (Calderhead, 1996, in Yin, 2006) In other words, according to every particular educational environment in which we work, beliefs about nature of writing can be different to some extent, including:

(1) There is a belief that content of writing is single and consistently true in any cases, often imposed by teachers But from another belief, content of writing requires being socially contextual, particular situational, and purposeful In this case, “writing is a social activity to achieve writing goals”

(2) Writing is built on the basis of sets of vocabulary, expressions, grammatical structures, in isolation It is believed that “writing is a form–focused or linguistic

accuracy–based activity” through memorization and rehearsal.

(3) Teachers play a key role in build up students‟ English writing ability Whereas, from another perspective, students‟ English writing ability is constructed mainly by themselves through active self–reflection, peer interaction, and meaning–making process

It is inferred from this belief that “writing is a complex cognitive process of multiple steps”; and “writing is a social activity in term of interaction among writers”

Succinctly stated, with reference to teachers‟ beliefs about the subject matter (i.e., writing skill), the study can examine how teachers perceive, feel, think about importance and nature of EFL writing at high schools from different perspectives mentioned above:

Table 2.3b – Teachers’ Beliefs about Nature of Writing Skill

Subject matter Sub–categories of beliefs

EFL writing

(1) Form–based (2) Cognitive process–based (3) Functional social–based (4) Interactive social–based

2.2.2.2 Teachers’ beliefs about teacher roles and teaching

For Richards et al (2001), teachers‟ beliefs can also be reflected through views about teacher roles and how teachers define their work According to Zheng (2009), “people hold different conceptual orientations towards teaching and the role of teachers” Zheng then exemplifies that “some teachers may regard language teaching as a process of information transmission while others think of the teacher as facilitator of language learning” Chai (2010) conceptualizes teachers‟ beliefs about teacher roles and teaching into “pedagogical beliefs”, often drawn from beliefs about nature of the subject matter

Like Zheng, Chai also divides these pedagogical beliefs into the knowledge transmission view and the knowledge construction view

Accordingly, the two aforementioned views can lead to two different types of teacher roles and teaching in practices of writing instruction, that

“Teachers holding the traditional beliefs tend to see teaching as a process of transmitting knowledge to the students […] The students are treated as passive recipients of verified knowledge Teachers who are inclined towards constructivist teaching would see teaching as a process of facilitating students‟ construction of meaning and understanding

of the phenomena they experience These teachers structure the learning environment to promote active sense–making among the students […]” (Deng et al 2014) Inferring from this kind of teachers‟ beliefs, the researcher can explore what teachers think about “models of effective instruction, instructional approaches, [their] teaching role, and appropriate classroom activities” (Yin, 2006)

2.2.2.3 Relationship between beliefs about the subject matter, about teacher roles and teaching

As what is noted in Yin (2006), Grossman (1991) finds that beliefs about the subject matter influenced instructional judgments and decisions It might be understood that following beliefs about subject matter, teachers should then construct their beliefs about