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台灣英文教師對文法教學信念與實踐之差異研究 - 政大學術集成

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(1)國立政治大學英國語文學系碩士班碩士論文. 指導教授:余明忠博士. Adviser: Dr. Yu, Ming-chung. 立. 政 治 大. ‧. ‧ 國. 學. al. er. io. sit. y. Nat. 台灣英文教師對文法教學信念與實踐之差異研究. n. A Taiwanese Teacher’s Tensions between Grammar Teaching Beliefs and Practices. Ch. engchi. i n U. v. 研究生:林珊琪 撰 Name: Lin, Shan-chi 中華民國 一百零四年七月 July, 2015.

(2) 立. 政 治 大. ‧. ‧ 國. 學. n. er. io. sit. y. Nat. al. Ch. engchi. i n U. v.

(3) A Taiwanese Teacher’s Tensions between Grammar Teaching Beliefs and Practices. A Master Thesis Submitted to Department of English,. 立. 政 治 大. National Chengchi University. ‧. ‧ 國. 學. n. er. io. sit. y. Nat. al. Ch. engchi. i n U. v. In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Master of Arts. by Lin, Shan-chi July, 2015.

(4) 立. 政 治 大. ‧. ‧ 國. 學. n. er. io. sit. y. Nat. al. Ch. engchi. i n U. v.

(5) To Prof. Yu, Ming-chung 獻給我的恩師余明忠教授. 立. 政 治 大. ‧. ‧ 國. 學. n. er. io. sit. y. Nat. al. Ch. engchi. iii. i n U. v.

(6) Acknowledgments The fact of finishing my thesis is still like a dream to me. Being an in-service teacher during day time, I was too tired to do anything after work. During the most depressing period, I always thought that I had so many things to do that I would never have time and energy to complete my thesis. However, with the encouragement and support of friends and teachers, I started working on the last few chapters. Finally, I made it.. 政 治 大 listened to my worries and problems 立 about thesis. Prof. Yu showed me the world of My greatest gratitude goes to my advisor, Prof. Yu Ming-chung, who always. ‧ 國. 學. thesis writing with his great patience. Without his instruction, I would never have known about the principles and components of an ideal thesis. The second person that. ‧. I want to thank is my dearest husband. Thesis writing was a long-lasting battle, and I. sit. y. Nat. couldn’t have done it without my husband’s support. He knew well what it was like to. n. al. er. io. be stuck in the middle of the thesis. Whenever I had difficulty analyzing the data,. i n U. v. having a talk with him always inspired my thinking. I also want to thank Claire, my. Ch. engchi. best partner in NCCU TESOL program. No matter how many times I told her the idea of giving up, she still believed I would finish it. I really thank her for being there with me for such a long time. The process of completing a thesis indeed gave me lots of inspiration. Having been through the feeling of self-denial, depress, indifferent and all the other negative emotions, I finally faced my own fear and decided to overcame it. More importantly, once I started to face it, everything seemed to be not that difficult as I imagined. For me, it was not the graduate degree that excited me the most. It was the feeling of surpassing the old me that created the most joy. iv.

(7) TABLE OF CONTENTS Dedication ..................................................................................................................... iii Acknowledgments......................................................................................................... iv Table of contents ............................................................................................................ v Chinese abstract .......................................................................................................... viii English Abstract ............................................................................................................ ix. CHAPTER ONE: INTRODUCTION ........................................................................ 1. 政 治 大 1.2 Tensions between grammar teaching beliefs and practices ..................................... 1 立 1.1 Teachers’ belief systems .......................................................................................... 1. 1.3 Motivation and significance of this study ................................................................ 3. ‧ 國. 學 ‧. CHAPTER TWO: LITERATURE REVIEW ........................................................... 5. sit. y. Nat. 2.1 Teachers’ beliefs in education ................................................................................. 5. io. er. 2.1.1 Nature and characteristics of teachers’ beliefs .............................................. 5 2.1.2 Factors that influence teachers’ beliefs and practices ................................... 8. al. n. v i n C h teachers’ beliefs 2.1.3 The relationship between and practices ........................... 11 engchi U 2.1.3.1 Convergence between beliefs and practices............................................. 11 2.1.3.2 Tensions between beliefs and practices ................................................... 12 2.2 Review of grammar teaching research ................................................................... 14 2.2.1 The role of grammar in second language acquisition ................................. 14 2.2.2 Approaches to grammar teaching................................................................ 15 2.2.3 The use of grammatical terminology in language teaching ........................ 17 2.2.4 Grammar teaching in Taiwan ...................................................................... 17 2.3 Empirical evidence on tensions in grammar teaching ........................................... 19 2.4 Rationale of the present study and research questions........................................... 21 v.

(8) CHAPTER THREE: METHODOLOGY ............................................................... 23 3.1 Design of this study ............................................................................................... 23 3.2 Participant .............................................................................................................. 23 3.2.1 Selection of the setting and participant ....................................................... 24 3.2.2 Background of the participant ..................................................................... 25 3.3 Data collection ....................................................................................................... 26 3.3.1 Interviews .................................................................................................... 27 3.3.2 Observation ................................................................................................. 30. 政 治 大 3.4 Procedures .............................................................................................................. 32 立 3.3.3 Documents .................................................................................................. 31. 3.5 Data analysis .......................................................................................................... 32. ‧ 國. 學. CHAPTER FOUR: RESULTS ................................................................................. 37. ‧. 4.1 Core and peripheral beliefs in grammar teaching .................................................. 37. y. Nat. sit. 4.1.1 Jane’s core beliefs in teaching..................................................................... 38. n. al. er. io. 4.1.1.1 Teaching in general .................................................................................. 38. i n U. v. 4.1.1.2 Teacher’s role in teaching ........................................................................ 39. Ch. engchi. 4.1.1.3 Students’ role in learning ......................................................................... 42 4.1.2 Jane’s peripheral beliefs .............................................................................. 44 4.1.2.1 Jane’s perceived significance of English ................................................. 44 4.1.2.2 The role of grammar in junior high school .............................................. 47 4.2 Grammar teaching practice .................................................................................... 49 4.2.1 Proportion of grammar instruction.............................................................. 49 4.2.1.1 Teaching sequence within one unit .......................................................... 49 4.2.1.2 Procedure of grammar teaching ............................................................... 50 4.2.1.3 Frequency of grammar work .................................................................... 51 vi.

(9) 4.2.2 The use of grammatical terminology .......................................................... 55 4.3 Tensions between grammar teaching beliefs and practices ................................... 58 4.3.1 Extracurricular teaching resources .............................................................. 58 4.3.2 The proportion of grammar instruction ....................................................... 59 4.3.3 The use of grammatical terminology .......................................................... 60. CHAPTER FIVE: DISCUSSION............................................................................. 63 5.1 Core beliefs ............................................................................................................ 63 5.2 Peripheral beliefs ................................................................................................... 68. 政 治 大. 5.3 Classroom practices ............................................................................................... 69. 立. 5.4 Tensions between beliefs and practices ................................................................. 71. ‧ 國. 學. CHAPTER SIX: CONCLUSION ............................................................................. 77. ‧. 6.1 Summary ................................................................................................................ 77. sit. y. Nat. 6.2 Pedagogical Implications ....................................................................................... 78. n. al. er. io. 6.3 Limitations ............................................................................................................. 79. i n U. v. 6.4 Suggestions for future studies ................................................................................ 79. Ch. engchi. References .................................................................................................................... 81 Appendix 1: Interview and observation consent form ................................................. 89 Appendix 2: Semi-structured interview protocol ......................................................... 90. vii.

(10) 國立政治大學英國語文學系碩士班 碩士論文提要. 論文名稱:台灣國中英文教師對文法教學信念與實踐之差異研究 指導教授:余明忠 博士 研究生:林珊琪 論文提要內容:. 政 治 大. 本個案研究旨在深入研究一位國中英文教師在文法教學信念與實際教學之. 立. 間的差異之處。本研究以 Green (1971) 所提出的 core belief 和 peripheral belief. ‧ 國. 學. 為基本架構,採用質性之資料收集及分析方式,以期對教師的教學信念、教學 行為及兩者之間的不一致做出較詳盡的描繪及討論。參與本研究的教師為一位. ‧. 新北市公立國中的資深英文教師,對文法教學及英語教育有自己的一套理解及. y. Nat. sit. 看法,備受同校老師的尊重。資料收集方式以課堂錄音觀察、半結構式訪談為. n. al. er. io. 主,教師的教學資料、自編的段考考卷、校內英文老師的領域會議紀錄為輔。. i n U. v. 研究結果顯示,此教師的文法教學信念和行為的確有些許落差,主要反映. Ch. engchi. 在課外英語學習資源的使用、文法教學所佔的比重、以及文法術語的使用頻率 上。造成此落差的原因主要是教師的 core beliefs 和 peripheral beliefs 內容的不 一致,導致在教學現場上大部分的時間都用來完成 core beliefs,因此 peripheral beliefs 的實施時間便受到壓縮了。此外研究者還發現,這位老師的 core beliefs 主要以較傳統、較常見的知識傳輸模式為主,而 peripheral beliefs 則是和英語教 學理念較有直接相關,這部分呼應了 Phipps and Borg (2009)所提出的假設,且 此一現象是在教師信念的文獻中較少被提到的。根據這些發現,本研究提出對 教師文法教學信念及實踐之差異的看法及未來研究的建議,以期對台灣的英語 文法教學能有更多建設性的研究貢獻。 viii.

(11) Abstract The purpose of this qualitative study was to investigate the tensions between an English teacher’s grammar teaching beliefs and practices. The participant was an experienced junior high school English teacher who had her own principles in grammar teaching and English education. Green’s (1971) distinction of core beliefs and peripheral beliefs was adopted as the framework to analyze the participant’s grammar teaching beliefs. Data were collected from multiple sources such as. 政 治 大 documents such as the teacher’s teaching notes and test paper. By using initial coding 立 semi-structured interviews, classroom observations, stimulated recall interviews, and. themes of the participant’s grammar teaching tensions.. 學. ‧ 國. and second level coding, these data were carefully examined to obtain the most salient. ‧. The findings revealed three most significant tensions between the participant’s. sit. y. Nat. grammar teaching beliefs and practices: tension on the use of extracurricular teaching. io. er. resources, on the proportion of grammar instruction, and on the use of grammatical terminology. The participant’s tensions were mainly due to the inharmonious. al. n. v i n C h and peripheral beliefs. relationship between core beliefs The former were more engchi U. related to teaching philosophy in general, and the latter were more related to English teaching itself. In other words, the tensions between participant’s beliefs and practices were actually the gaps between knowledge transmission perspective and ideal English teaching principles. Based on the findings of this study, some suggestions and pedagogical implications were raised for future research as well as English education field in Taiwan.. ix.

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(13) CHAPTER ONE INTRODUCTION In the field of education, what teachers think and do has drawn the attention of many researchers. It has been well-recognized that teachers’ beliefs, knowledge, attitude and assumptions all have strong impact on their actual teaching practice (Basturkmen, 2012; Borg, 2003; Farahian, 2011; Pearson, 1985; Phipps & Borg, 2009; Woods, 1996). Being the major decision makers in the classroom, teachers have the power to decide what and how to teach. As Pearson (1985) suggests, “understanding the belief systems of teachers, including how beliefs interact with one another (e.g.,. 政 治 大 when they are implemented” 立 (p.143). It is therefore essential to explore the rationale favorably and unfavorably), may enhance the working of technical innovations. ‧. ‧ 國. 學. behind teachers’ instructional decisions.. 1.1 Teachers’ belief systems. sit. y. Nat. It has been widely acknowledged that beliefs often exist in systems rather than. n. al. er. io. in isolation. Scholars analyze belief systems from many different perspectives. Some. i n U. v. considered beliefs as different categories that interact with one another (Borg, 1998b;. Ch. engchi. Burns, 1992). Borg (1998b), for example, contended that the belief system worked as a “network of interacting and potentially conflicting beliefs about a wide variety of issues related not only to L2 teaching but also to teaching and learning in general” (p.28). Other researchers explain belief systems with the concept of core beliefs and peripheral beliefs (Green, 1971; Rokeach, 1968). The greatest distinction between the two belief systems lies on their psychological intensity. Core beliefs are the ones that carry the strongest intensity and are prone to trigger actions. Peripheral beliefs are weaker in psychological strength and are therefore less likely to generate behaviors. 1.2 Tensions between grammar teaching beliefs and practices 1.

(14) Within numerous aspects of language education, one important issue influenced by teachers’ beliefs is grammar teaching (Borg, 2001). In Chinese learning context where English teaching has long been dominated with teacher-centered, textbook-oriented grammar translation method (Chen & Tsai, 2012), grammar instructions often occupy a great portion of teachers’ classroom practices. Although Taiwanese English teachers may have acknowledged the importance of communicative language teaching since its incorporation into textbooks in 1994, in reality, many of them are still in favor of the traditional teaching methods because of. 政 治 大 2004). This shows that teachers’ stated beliefs do not always coincide with their 立 practical concerns such as time limit and exams (Chung, 2008; Hsu, 2006; Lai,. actual practices.. ‧ 國. 學. The differences between teachers’ beliefs and practices have long been a. ‧. commonly discussed issue. Phipps & Borg (2009) found that many studies described. sit. y. Nat. the gap between teachers’ beliefs and practices as unfavorable by using terms like. io. er. divergence (Huang, 2010), inconsistency (Basturkmen, 2004) and mismatches (Lee, 2009). Under such perspectives, the gap between beliefs and practices became. al. n. v i n negative and should be corrected. InCorder to analyze theseUdifferences more hengchi positively, Phipps and Borg (2009) adopted Green’s (1971) distinction on. core/peripheral beliefs and found that teachers’ inconsistency were quite consistent with their core beliefs. This kind of understanding allows us to view teachers’ inconsistency as a natural phenomenon originating from one’s differences between core and peripheral beliefs, not as something abnormal. Therefore, Phipps and Borg (2009) argued that exploring teachers’ tensions from the perspective of core/peripheral beliefs is a more positive way to view the differences between beliefs and practices. The positive recognition of tensions may both generate more complicated understandings about teaching and serve as a driving force that 2.

(15) facilitates teachers’ professional development. In Taiwan, some efforts have been made to explore teachers’ grammar teaching beliefs, instructional practices and the relationship between them. However, only about half of them adopted qualitative approach, a measure that is suggested by researchers for the study of teachers’ beliefs (for example, Pajares, 1992; Phipps & Borg, 2009). Even fewer studies explored teachers’ beliefs from the perspective of core and peripheral beliefs. This reveals an urgent need to conduct studies of this kind to gain comprehensive understanding about the components of Taiwanese. 政 治 大. English teachers’ core beliefs, peripheral beliefs, as well as the tensions on grammar teaching.. 1.3 Motivation and significance of this study. 學. ‧ 國. 立. ‧. Therefore, the goals of this study are (1) to find out what comprises an English. sit. y. Nat. teacher’s core beliefs and peripheral beliefs in grammar teaching, (2) to investigate. io. er. tensions between a teacher’s grammar teaching beliefs and practices under junior high school context, and (3) to identify factors behind tensions and portray them in detail.. al. n. v i n Cbeliefs Exploring the content of core beliefs may allow us to view U h e nandgperipheral i h c. beliefs from a different perspective. Learning the components of tensions as well as the reasons behind them also contribute to the field of English teaching in advancing our understanding of the complex relationships between teachers’ beliefs and practices (Phipps & Borg, 2009).. 3.

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(17) CHAPTER TWO LITERATURE REVIEW The goal of this chapter is to review literature concerning grammar teaching, teachers’ beliefs and practices. It is further divided into five sections. The first section includes prominent features of teachers’ beliefs. Then, different approaches to grammar teaching will be introduced in the second section. The third and the fourth section discuss the relationship between beliefs and practices, including congruency and tensions. Finally, the rationale of the present study and research questions will be presented in the fifth section.. 立. 政 治 大. 2.1 Teachers’ beliefs in education. ‧ 國. 學. The study of teachers’ beliefs has long been regarded as a key to understanding. ‧. how teachers approach their work. It is also well recognized that teachers’ beliefs. sit. y. Nat. influence their perceptions, judgments, and actual teaching practices (Borg, 2003;. io. er. Farrell & Bennis, 2013, Pajares, 1992; Pearson, 1985). The following sections present some crucial issues in previous literature about teachers’ beliefs.. n. al. Ch. engchi. i n U. v. 2.1.1 Nature and characteristics of teachers’ beliefs. According to Borg (2003), teachers’ beliefs refer to the “unobservable cognitive dimension of teaching—what teachers know, believe, and think” (p. 81). Four key features of teachers’ beliefs characterized by previous researchers are enumerated below: 1. Beliefs are not easy to be observed directly: Since beliefs are affective in nature (Nespor, 1987), they have to be inferred from words and require multiple measures such as open-ended interviews and observations of behaviors (Borg, 2003; Pajares, 1992). 5.

(18) 2. Beliefs are both dynamic and static: Beliefs are dynamic because teachers would constantly redefine and revise their beliefs according to what they have experienced in that particular context (Negueruela-Azarola, 2011). As the teachers teach from day to day, what they believe and what they do keep interacting and influencing each other, making teachers adjust existed beliefs or practices little by little (Breen et al., 2001). However, some beliefs, especially the ones that derived from early experiences, are so deeply rooted that they are resistant to change (Green, 1971; Nespor, 1987;. 政 治 大 traditional grammar translation English education were found to have 立 Pajares, 1992; Rokeach, 1968). For Instance, teachers who received. difficulty conducting more student-centered, task-based teaching (Lai,. ‧ 國. 學. 2004; Wu, 2006). It usually takes them a long time to adjust to new. ‧. teaching trends which center on student participation and authentic. sit. y. Nat. communication (Feryok, 2008).. io. er. 3. Beliefs exert strong influence on perceptions and actions: Beliefs usually have strong and lasting power on teachers’ perceptions, interpretations, and. al. n. v i n C h decisions (Borg, most importantly, their instructional 2003, 2009; Farrell engchi U. & Bennis, 2013; Johnson, 1992b, 1994). As Breen et al. (2001) pointed out, teachers’ beliefs influence how they “orchestrate the interaction between learner, teacher, and subject matter in a particular classroom context with particular resources” (p.473). Moreover, in order to keep the beliefs intact, human beings tend to create a set of explanations to consolidate them. To do so, they sometimes choose to ignore or distort the reality (Green, 1971; Nespor, 1987; Pajares, 1992). In Pajare’s (1992) words, it is the “filtering effect” of beliefs that “screens, redefines, distorts, or reshapes” one’s thinking process” (p.325). Nespor (1987) used the term “alternativity” to 6.

(19) describe the phenomenon in which teachers verbalize their beliefs in ideal teaching models which are distinct from reality. Beliefs, in this regard, do not always reflect what teachers actually do because other issues can significantly override even strongly held beliefs. 4. Beliefs often come in groups, and beliefs of different groups occupy different priorities: Some scholars proposed the concept of “cluster” to explain the reason why people hold contradictory beliefs. In Pearson’s (1985) research, for example, two participating teachers both showed. 政 治 大 student management. What is more, he also found that these teachers’ 立. certain degree of incongruency between beliefs and practices in the area of. inconsistencies were in conflict with other sets of beliefs which are more. ‧ 國. 學. relevant with one another.. ‧. Rokeach (1968) indicated that each belief differs in its intensity and. sit. y. Nat. power, which can be viewed with the central/peripheral dimension. Central. io. er. beliefs, in Rokeach’s definition, possess the feature of “connectedness.” In other words, “the more a given belief is functionally connected or in. al. n. v i n C hother beliefs, the more communication with implications and engchi U. consequences it has for other beliefs and, therefore, the more central the belief” (p.5). On the other hand, peripheral beliefs are the ones with less connectedness, and are therefore lower in intensity. Similarly, Green (1971) also believes that beliefs come “in little clusters” which act like a “protective shield that prevents any cross-fertilization among them or any confrontation between them” (p.47). He categorized different clusters of beliefs into the core/peripheral dimension and elaborated this concept with more details. First, he defined core and peripheral beliefs according to the psychological strength they 7.

(20) carry. Core beliefs are stronger in psychological strength, meaning that they are more significant to an individual than other beliefs. The significance allows core beliefs to exert the most influence on individuals and predispose to trigger behaviors. In comparison, peripheral beliefs are the ones whose importance is not as high, and therefore are not that likely to turn into actions. Moreover, the relationship between the two kinds of beliefs, as Green (1971) argued, should be presented in the way of concentric circles. The circle in the center lies the core beliefs which are. 政 治 大 represent the less important peripheral beliefs. The further the beliefs 立. stronger in intensity; while the circles which are further from the center. locate in the concentric circle, the less psychological strength they have,. ‧ 國. 學. and the less likely they can trigger behaviors. Green’s proposal has a few. ‧. practical implications for studies about teachers’ beliefs: (1) It provides a. sit. y. Nat. clear conceptual framework to illustrate the difference between teachers’. io. er. beliefs and practices. (2) It explains the reason behind the “resistant to change” nature in teachers’ education literature (Wu, 2006). (3) Based on. al. n. v i n C h that core and U Green’s claim about the influence peripheral beliefs can engchi. bring to one’s behaviors, it is necessary to include both in-depth interviews and classroom observations into studies of teachers’ beliefs.. 2.1.2 Factors that influence teachers’ beliefs and practices Due to the strong influence of beliefs, scholars have been interested in identifying the possible reasons which give rise to teachers’ beliefs. Within numerous studies, three issues are commonly mentioned as the factors behind teachers’ beliefs and practices: prior learning experiences, professional training programs and classroom practices (Borg, 2003, 2006; Cabaroglu & Roberts, 2000; 8.

(21) Huang, 2010; Phipps & Borg, 2009; Wu, 2006). It is the complex interaction among all the sources that gradually shapes teachers’ belief systems. First of all, teachers’ beliefs and practices are influenced by their experience as learners. These prior learning experiences, especially some critical incidents, gradually shaped teachers’ belief system about how language learning should be (Borg, 2003). Johnson (1994) described a project in which some preservice ESL teachers provided narrative statements regarding their teaching beliefs and their practicum teaching. It was found that the instructional decisions they made were. 政 治 大 materials and activities. In Lai (2004), most of the high school teachers who 立. mainly based on their language learning experience such as images of teachers,. preferred grammar translation method received their education domestically. On the. ‧ 國. 學. other hand, teachers who got their MAs in foreign countries tended to express their. ‧. disagreement on repetitive practices. Huang (2010) found that the four preservice. sit. y. Nat. teachers in her study all taught grammar in traditional patterns although they came. io. er. from different junior high schools. This interesting finding suggested that these preservice teachers’ teaching beliefs were significantly influenced by their previous. al. n. v i n learning experiences which C were grammar translation h e n g c h i U oriented.. The second source of teachers’ beliefs is the professional education training. they received. The professional education training, though not always, may sometimes affect teachers’ existing beliefs about education (Borg, 2003). Cabaroglu and Roberts (2000) employed a series of in-depth interviews to investigate the belief development of twenty PGCE Modern language students. All except one case showed changes after the one-year program. Some perceived that their existing beliefs were in line with the new information they learned in the program, and therefore became more and more established about their own beliefs. Other participants started to polish their existing beliefs to connect with the newly acquired 9.

(22) information. Chung (2008) found that the beliefs of Taiwanese senior high school teachers in her study were related to their professional coursework in two ways. The academic background affected their perception on the time needed for grammar teaching; while workshop attending experience brought some changes to the approaches and contents of grammar instruction. Third, there is ample evidence showing that teachers’ teaching experience is likely to influence their beliefs (Breen et al., 2001; Borg, 2003; Farrell & Bennis, 2013; Woods, 1996). As Borg (2003) stated, beliefs not only shape teachers’ practice,. 政 治 大 scholars investigated this issue through the comparison of novice and experienced 立. but are also “in turn shaped by the experiences teachers accumulated” (p.95). Some. teachers. Lai (2004) reported that seniority influences teachers in the way that they. ‧ 國. 學. perceived the importance on grammar. The participants who had taught for 21-30. ‧. years hold stronger conviction about the statement “grammar is more important than. sit. y. Nat. meaning” than those who had taught for 1-10 years. Farrell & Bennis (2013). io. er. conducted a case study in which beliefs of one novice teacher and one experienced teacher were observed and interviewed. The findings suggested that the less. al. n. v i n C h about students’ perception experienced teacher tended to care more for the teacher engchi U. rather than the learning process itself. The experienced teacher who had already formed a set of automatised routines from previous teaching practices was less affected by students’ emotion, and can thus focus more on the learning content. Apart from previous three factors, teachers’ classroom practices are also significantly shaped by an outside factor—context. According to Borg (2003),. context refers to “the social, psychological and environmental realities about the school and the classroom” (p.94). To be more precise, it encompasses factors such as the society (Wu, 2006), standardized tests (Chen & Tsai, 2012; Wu, 2006), time constraints (Farrell & Bennis, 2013; Hsu, 2006), student expectations (Farrell & 10.

(23) Bennis, 2013; Feryok, 2008; Phipps & Borg, 2009), school atmosphere, classroom and school layout (Borg, 2003). For example, one teacher in Farrell and Bennis (2013) was found to abandon his favored inductive approach of a particular task due to students’ lack of interest. Lin (2011) analyzed the stated beliefs of 159 vocational high school English teachers in Taipei City. In this study, the participants of different school qualities, duty and programs were found to verbalize different grammar instructional behaviors. Shih (2011) examined the reasons that shaped teachers’ beliefs in an English remedial course in northern Taiwan. The two participants’. 政 治 大 and professional coursework. It was the contextual factors, including the interaction 立. instructional decisions were only slightly impacted by personal learning experiences. with the administrator, other teachers’ comments, students’ responses, and the. ‧ 國. 學. attitudes of students and parents toward the remedial program that strongly. ‧. influenced their practices.. sit. y. Nat. io. er. 2.1.3 The relationship between teachers’ beliefs and practices. The relationship between teachers’ beliefs and practices has long been a focus. al. n. v i n Cteacher of investigation in the field of Due to the complicated nature of U h e neducation. i h gc. beliefs mentioned in 2.1.1, beliefs and practices do not always coincide. There have been mixed results about the relationship between beliefs and practices in education. Some studies showed great consistency between the two, while others revealed some tensions.. 2.1.3.1 Convergence between beliefs and practices Johnson’s (1992b) study on literacy instruction was an example of correspondence between teachers’ theoretical beliefs and classroom practices. In this study, about 60% of participants reported clear theoretical beliefs that reliably guided 11.

(24) their teaching practices. Another study by Lin (2010) reached similar conclusions. She selected eight elementary school English teachers and tried to deeply understand their beliefs and practices about pronunciation instruction. The results showed no significant differences between teachers’ beliefs and practices. Participants’ beliefs corresponded with their classroom practices in issues like role of pronunciation, ways of pronunciation instruction and teachers’ role. Inceçay’s (2011) study also documented a case whose English teaching beliefs were in great consistency with teaching practices. Describing ideal English learners as risk-taking and active in his. 政 治 大 his class. Students in this teacher’s class were witnessed to be risk-takers who were 立 stated beliefs, the participating teacher encouraged students to hold such attitude in. active in learning and were also able to maintain classroom order at the same time.. ‧. ‧ 國. 學. 2.1.3.2 Tensions between beliefs and practices. sit. y. Nat. Except for the consistency documented in previous literature, a considerable. io. er. amount of research has discovered differences between beliefs and practices (Borg, 2003; Farrell & Bennis, 2013; Feryok, 2008; Inceçay, 2011; Pearson, 1985).. al. n. v i n C h‘tensions’, whichU Freeman (1993) terms these differences he defines as “divergences engchi among different forces or elements in the teachers’ understanding of the school. context, the subject matter, or the students” (p.488). Lee (2009) analyzed language teachers’ tensions about written feedback in Hong Kong. She reviewed teachers’ written feedback on students’ texts and observed ten salient mismatches incongruent with teachers’ stated beliefs. For example, one mismatch was that although teachers valued organization and ideas in writing, they still paid the most attention to language accuracy. There existed a clear tension between teachers’ ideal teaching environment and situational constraints. In another study, Feryok (2008) was interested in EFL teachers’ claim about communicative teaching practices. One teacher who claimed 12.

(25) to adopt Communicative Language Teaching method (hence, CLT) in her EFL classroom was interviewed and observed. Although most of her stated beliefs were reflected into her practice, some signs of tensions were also identified. For example, the act that the teacher gave assistance during students’ construction of phrases and sentences may be in conflicted with her stated beliefs about encouraging student participation and free expression. This is, as Feryok (2008) speculated, probably due to the teacher’s less familiarity with CLT. Her adoption of CLT may not be long enough for her to fully develop appropriate practices in line with CLT spirit.. 政 治 大 Among them, “time” was most commonly mentioned in the literature. For example, 立. Previous studies have also pointed out some possible reasons behind tensions.. both the novice teacher and the experienced teacher in Farrell and Bennis (2013). ‧ 國. 學. regarded the constraint of time as the reason that hindered them from fully. ‧. implementing their ideal beliefs. One Hong Kong English teacher in Wu (2006). sit. y. Nat. chose to employ lectures instead of group work due to the packed curriculum. She. io. er. thought group work was too “time consuming,” which was not an appropriate teaching technique under such a tight schedule. Similar to the test-oriented situation. al. n. v i n C hfound that Taiwanese of Hong Kong, Hsu (2006) also junior high school teachers engchi U were under a lot of time pressure in order to finish designated content within a certain period of time. He stated,. Time is probably one of the major external factors over which teachers have little or no control and that appears to affect the implementation of beliefs, especially in the context of the Taiwan education system (p.109).. Besides the aforementioned studies, Phipps and Borg’s (2009) research shed new light on the study of tensions. Using Green’s (1971) framework of core and 13.

(26) peripheral beliefs, they believe the reasons that cause tensions are due to the fact that core beliefs and peripheral beliefs do not always work harmoniously. Through a longitudinal 18-month research, they found that the teachers tended to justify their inconsistency with deeper, more general core beliefs about education. They further hypothesized that core beliefs are the beliefs that are “experientially ingrained,” while peripheral beliefs are the ones that are only “theoretically embraced.” Calls were also made to encourage continuing research to verify their claims. Their study is of great value for researchers studying tensions in the field of language teaching.. 政 治 大 2.2 Review of grammar teaching research 立. This section primarily outlines some key issues about grammar teaching. The. ‧ 國. 學. first four parts discuss issues such as the role of grammar in language teaching,. ‧. claims for and against grammar teaching, common grammar instruction approaches,. sit. y. Nat. the use of grammar terminology. The last part presents some empirical studies of. io. er. grammar instructions in Taiwan.. n. al. i 2.2.1 The role of grammar in secondClanguage acquisitionU n hengchi. v. There have been heated debates over the place of grammar in second language. acquisition. Opponents such as Krashen (1982) claimed that acquisition happens subconsciously in a low-anxiety learning environment. With sufficient comprehensible input, language learning will occur naturally without specific guidance from teachers. Similarly, Cook (2003) proposed that neither conscious learning nor explicit instruction can facilitate the natural order of language acquisition. This view minimized the importance of grammar and limited grammar instruction to a few simple rules only (Krashen, 1982; Krashen & Terrell, 1983). However, Krashen’s (1982) claim has been criticized by proponents of grammar 14.

(27) teaching because of its lack of theoretical ground (Ellis, 2006; Nassaji & Fotos, 2004). Numerous studies have already proved that explicit grammar instructions can actually facilitate learning in language classrooms (Ellis, 2006; Nassaji & Fotos, 2004). For example, Yip (1994) investigated the effect of grammatical consciousness-raising in learners’ acquisition of ergative verbs and found that students who received longer consciousness-raising lesson outperformed the others in post-tests. In another study, after reviewing 12 studies concerning the effect of instructions and exposure, Long (1983) concluded that formal grammar instruction are beneficial to students’ learning.. 政 治 大 on the viewpoint that instructions indeed enhance the speed and success of second 立. Although the controversy about the role of grammar still exists, most studies agree. language learning.. ‧ 國. 學 ‧. 2.2.2 Approaches to grammar teaching. sit. y. Nat. Different scholars have proposed various point of views regarding how. io. er. grammar should be taught. Main features of these approaches are illustrated below: (1) Grammar Translation Method. al. n. v i n C h was originally U Grammar Translation Method used to teach students to read and engchi. appreciate foreign literature for the sake of developing mental discipline and. intellectual growth (Larsen-Freeman, 2000). Despite its great popularity in Europe from the 1840s to 1940s, some teachers still embrace this teaching method to date. It has four crucial characteristics. First, the teacher is the authority in the classroom and students are expected to follow the teacher’s instructions. Second, reading and writing skills are emphasized, so lots of time is spent on vocabulary and grammar. Thirdly, there is usually little student initiation, and the interaction between students is rarely seen because it is the teacher who dominates the class most of the time. Fourth, techniques such as translation exercises, reading comprehension questions, 15.

(28) deductive application of rules and memorization are often employed to facilitate the learning process (Larsen-Freeman, 2000; Richards & Rodgers, 2001).. (2) Inductive versus deductive teaching The inductive and deductive distinction in grammar instruction mainly refers to the ways grammar is presented. In inductive teaching, students are exposed to a lot of examples first and then learn to discover or synthesize what they have seen on their own. Deductive teaching emphasizes more on given rules. Grammar structures or. 政 治 大 practices or drills (Brown, 2001; Ellis, 2006). Deductive teaching has long been the 立 rules are presented at the beginning of instruction, followed by different types of. focus of textbook editing and traditional ESL teaching technique such as Grammar. ‧ 國. 學. Translation Method (Ellis, 2002a). On the other hand, scholars have found that. ‧. inductive teaching not only improves students’ ability in hypothesis forming and. of language (Hawkins, 1984).. io. (3) Focus on form versus focus on forms. al. er. sit. y. Nat. testing (Corder, 1967) but also provides them more chances to explore the operation. n. v i n The term “focus on form” was C coined by Long (1991)Uto elucidate how grammar hengchi. should be viewed in a CLT classroom. In a CLT classroom where meaning is primary, students are often asked to participate in authentic tasks in which they can communicate in the target language naturally. In this teaching context, focus on form is to direct students’ attention to “linguistic elements as they arise incidentally in lessons whose overriding focus is on meaning of communication” (Long, 1991, pp. 45-46). This facilitates the acquisition of linguistic elements which students may otherwise ignore (Long, 1991). On the other hand, “focus on forms” refers to the rationale of traditional grammar translation method in which forms are emphasized more than meaning (Sheen, 2002). Teaching activities are usually designed with an 16.

(29) aim to help students memorize grammar rules, practice forms and produce accurate utterances.. 2.2.3 The use of grammatical terminology in language teaching Scholars hold different positions toward the use of grammatical terminology in language teaching. The opponents of grammar translation method regard grammatical explanation and the terminology as indispensable tools to master a language (Brown, 2001; Larsen-Freeman, 2000). Aronson Berman (1979) also claimed that terminology. 政 治 大 like Mitchell and Redmond (1993) argued against the use of terminology because they 立 serves as a shortcut for students to classify grammar structures. However, researcher. believe the goal of language learning is to develop the ability to communicate rather. ‧ 國. 學. than acquire the explicit knowledge about grammar. Larsen-Freeman (1991) and. ‧. Brown (2001) took a more eclectic approach and suggested that the use of. sit. y. Nat. terminology should depend on the characteristics of learners. Adults and highly. io. er. educated students, for example, can improve their language competence through the grammar explanation because of their cognitive maturity.. n. al. Ch. engchi. i n U. v. 2.2.4 Grammar teaching in Taiwan. Traditionally in Taiwan, Grammar Translation Method and audiolingualism had been the key principle of English curriculum guidelines. Since the rise of CLT in the 1970s, the trend of English teaching had gradually shifted to a more notional, theme-based orientation. In 1994, CLT was officially included into the junior high school English curriculum guideline. The tenets of CLT center on students’ ability of communication and meaning negotiation (Brown, 2001; Butler, 2011; Larsen-Freeman, 2000; Richards & Rodgers, 2001). Accuracy is no longer the first concern as long as communication can be done effectively. Therefore, grammar 17.

(30) instruction under CLT requires teachers to keep explanations simple, lower the frequency of drills, and not to overwhelm students with too many grammatical terms (Brown, 2001). Besides CLT, task-based language teaching also has some influence on English teaching in Taiwan. As its name suggests, task-based language teaching (hence TBLT) refers to an approach in which tasks are used to act as “the core unit of planning and instruction in language teaching” (Richards & Rodgers, 2001, p.223). Samuda and Bygate (2008) offered a clear definition about tasks: “a holistic activity. 政 治 大 meeting a linguistic challenge, with the overall aim of promoting language learning, 立 which engages language use in order to achieve some non-linguistic outcome while. through process or product or both”(p.69). Similar to the CLT’s advocators,. ‧ 國. 學. proponents of TBLT stress the importance of real communication. They believe. ‧. learners can learn better through interacting communicatively while engaging in. sit. y. Nat. activities or tasks that are related to real life (Brown, 2001; Richards & Rodgers,. io. er. 2001; Samuda & Bygate, 2008). Instead of learning grammar in isolation, students acquire different language structures through constant exposures to a variety of. n. al. tasks.. Ch. engchi. i n U. v. Even though CLT and TBLT have been proposed in Taiwan for years, studies show that many teachers in Taiwan were still unable to integrate them into their class naturally. For instance, Lai (2004) employed both questionnaire and survey to understand Taiwanese high school teachers’ grammar teaching beliefs. The findings showed that although some teachers had gradually accepted new trends of language teaching, a majority of participants still held strong conviction on the effectiveness of traditional teaching methods. The empirical study by Lin (2011) on Taiwanese vocational high school teachers came to the same conclusion. Recently, Chen and Tsai (2012) found that although local researchers dedicated themselves to making 18.

(31) proposals that meet local needs, some teachers were not yet ready to apply them into their practice. The following quotation may best describe the English situation in Taiwan:. Classroom practitioners are torn between the test-driven teaching style that have been practiced since the beginning of English education in Taiwan, and a desire to adopt novel teaching approaches and/or use modern technology to develop students’ English proficiency for pragmatic purposes (Chen & Tsai, 2012, p.196).. 政 治 大 2.3 Empirical evidence on tensions in grammar teaching 立. The previous sections have already explained the complicated relationship. ‧ 國. 學. between beliefs and practices. In this section, the tensions specifically related to. ‧. grammar teaching will be illustrated with some empirical studies.. sit. y. Nat. Some endeavors have been made to identify the tensions in grammar. io. er. instruction as well as the reasons behind these tensions. Basturkmen, Loewen, and Ellis (2004) conducted in-depth interviews and classroom observations to explore the. al. n. v i n tensions of teachers’ beliefs C and practices about incidental h e n g c h i U focus on form. They. discovered that all three participants demonstrated some mismatches in their beliefs about focus on form. For instance, one participant claimed that grammatical errors should be corrected after tasks were finished, while 61.5 % of his error correction occurred during the observed tasks. Phipps and Borg (2009) found that although much has been written about the relationship between beliefs and practices, little research has been done to find out what constitutes core and peripheral beliefs in language education. Thus, they documented the interaction between the two to understand how they influenced teachers’ grammar teaching practices. The findings suggest that the practices that 19.

(32) seemed contradictory to participants’ stated beliefs were in fact consistent with other beliefs that are not that salient on the surface. The gap between those language teachers’ beliefs and practices was actually due to the inharmonious relationship between their core beliefs and peripheral beliefs. According to the results, they made the assumption that core beliefs seem to be the beliefs that are “experientially ingrained”. That is, the beliefs that are constantly practiced and verified by individuals. Peripheral beliefs are the ones that are only “theoretically embraced” by individuals. They may be changed easily because people hold weaker conviction in. 政 治 大. them. It was the core beliefs that influenced most powerfully on teachers’ grammar teaching practices.. 立. Wu (2006) conducted an in-depth qualitative analysis on the grammar. ‧ 國. 學. teaching beliefs and practices of four ESL teachers in Hong Kong. In particular, he. ‧. was interested in the formation of teachers’ conflicting beliefs on teachers’ thoughts. sit. y. Nat. and actions. The results suggested that three out of four participants in this study. io. er. held a more traditional viewpoint about education and considered the role of teacher as a “dispenser of information” (p.344). Grammar was viewed as a subject matter. al. n. v i n Cparticipants instead of a tool to be utilized. These some h e n g calsoh shared i U. commonalities—all teachers highly valued the importance of memorization, which was consistent with the thoughts of many Taiwanese teachers. In Taiwan, tensions between teachers’ grammar teaching beliefs and practices have already gained some attention. Hsu’s (2006) study investigated teachers’ grammar teaching beliefs and practices and attempted to find out the solution to bridge discrepancy between the two. In this study, striking tensions were found in aspects such as question types, inductive and deductive teaching, etc. Also, three factors were identified as possible factors of divergence: prior teaching experience, time constraints and the textbook. Chung (2008) employed questionnaires and 20.

(33) post-hoc interviews to find out senior high school teachers’ tensions in grammar instruction. During the post-hoc interviews, all participants felt that their grammar teaching methods were somehow confined by the entrance exam system, and that their teaching would be totally different without the entrance exam.. 2.4 Rationale of the present study and research questions After reviewing related literature, the investigator found that a lot of studies in Taiwan seemed to center on the content and sources of teachers’ grammar teaching. 政 治 大 tensions (Hsu, 2006; Huang, 2010), in most studies, tensions were only addressed as a 立 beliefs. Although some studies tried to identify tensions and the reasons behind such. minimal part. The present study filled this gap by making effort to “explore,. ‧ 國. 學. acknowledge and understand the underlying reasons behind such tensions” (Phipps &. ‧. Borg, 2009, p. 388). Recently in Taiwan, 12 year national education has been. sit. y. Nat. implemented since 2014, which implies that students now seem to be free from the. io. er. pressure of basic competence test. Do junior high school teachers adjust grammar teaching methods to meet the trend of new entrance system, as what the teachers. al. n. v i n C h Besides, since CLT claimed in Chung’s (2008) study? has been advocated in Taiwan engchi U for twenty years, do teachers’ grammar teaching beliefs and practices still remain. traditional? These questions also motivated the investigator to conduct the present study. The current study adopted Green’s (1971) framework on core/peripheral beliefs and Phipps and Borg’s (2009) suggestions to seek in-depth understanding of teachers’ core and peripheral beliefs in grammar teaching. The goal of the present study is to create an in-depth portray of junior high school teacher’s tensions, to construct a better understanding of the complex relationship between beliefs and practices, and to provide insights to contradictory beliefs. The research questions are 21.

(34) as follows: 1. What constitutes this junior high school teacher’s core beliefs and peripheral beliefs in grammar teaching? 2. How does the teacher approach grammar teaching in actual classroom settings? 3. What are the tensions between the teacher’s grammar teaching beliefs and practices?. 立. 政 治 大. ‧. ‧ 國. 學. n. er. io. sit. y. Nat. al. Ch. engchi. 22. i n U. v.

(35) CHAPTER THREE METHODOLOGY In this chapter, the research method employed in this study will be presented. The first section explains the reasons of choosing qualitative case study as research design. Then, principles of participant selection as well as participant profile will be described. The third section deals with data collection, including the multiple tools to generate data. The fourth section presents the procedures of the present study. Finally, the last section introduces the rationale of data analysis.. 3.1 Design of this study. 立. 政 治 大. This study mainly followed Phipps and Borg’s (2009) rationale on grammar. ‧ 國. 學. teaching tensions. A qualitative case study was used as the research design for three. ‧. main reasons. First, the mental process of how teachers transform their grammar. sit. y. Nat. teaching beliefs into practices is very complicated and requires in-depth research. io. er. methods to document (Hood, 2009; Pajares, 1992). Second, in-depth analysis of a case or multiple cases can maximize our knowing about the phenomenon under. al. n. v i n C This investigation (Dörnyei, 2007). what Phipps and Borg (2009) encouraged U h eisnalso i h gc researchers to do in studies about teacher beliefs. Third, grammar teaching tensions. generated from discussions of actual classroom practices may more honestly reflect perspectives deeply rooted in reality (Phipps & Borg, 2009). Therefore, the results of this qualitative case study will be useful in teacher education because they can portray participants’ grammar teaching tensions in great details (Hood, 2009; Phipps & Borg, 2009; Richards, 2003), and can be applied to improve current practices in this particular English teaching environment (Hood, 2009).. 3.2 Participant 23.

(36) 3.2.1 Selection of the setting and participant One junior high school in northern Taiwan was selected as research setting. The reasons of choosing this research setting are twofold. First, the investigator has taught in this school for six years and has established enough intimacy and rapport with teachers here. In qualitative studies, a higher degree of trust between researchers and participants can bring in rich data that help researchers become “empirically confident” (Glaser & Strauss, 1967, p. 61) with the information needed to answer research questions (Dörnyei, 2007; Glaser & Strauss, 1967). Second, conducting qualitative. 政 治 大 grammar teaching tensions, which may serve as “driving force” (Golombek & Johnson, 立 research at the investigator’s own school increased the participant’s awareness of. 2004, pp. 323-324) for professional development (Farrell & Bennis, 2013; Golombek. ‧ 國. 學. & Johnson, 2004; Phipps & Borg, 2009). This is also in line with a key feature of action. ‧. research— to “change the social system in schools and other education organizations so. sit. y. Nat. that continual formal learning is both expected and supported” (Calhoun, 2008, p. 1).. io. er. To fully understand the tensions within this particular setting, one experienced English teacher, Jane, was selected as the participant of the current study. Jane was. al. n. v i n C hmost experienced English selected for three reasons. First, as the teacher in this engchi U. school, Jane has gone through the period in which grammar translation method was highly valued as well as the time when the spirit of communicative approach was included into textbooks. As mentioned earlier, Phipps and Borg (2009) found that core beliefs seemed to be the beliefs that are “experientially ingrained” while peripheral beliefs are the ones that are only “theoretically embraced.” Choosing an experienced teacher as the participant allowed the investigator to verify Phipps and Borg’s (2009) hypothesis about these characteristics. Second, after having some talks with two other experienced teachers in this school, both of them suggested Jane as the best candidate because “she teaches quite differently from the rest of us.” 24.

(37) They described Jane as a teacher who liked to try out new teaching materials (such as e-books provided by publishers) and use different teaching techniques. One even mentioned that Jane was “good at teaching grammar.” Thirdly, during English teachers’ monthly meeting, Jane often encouraged other teachers to change their grammar teaching belief through time. For example, she advised other teachers not to use grammar terminology as instructions in the test paper because she thought terminology should not be the center of instruction. These were signs that Jane was a teacher who had her own teaching principle and rational thinking, making her. 政 治 大 sampling as a way to “select information-rich cases whose study will illuminate the 立 “different” from other teachers in this school. Patton (1990) described purposeful. questions under study” (p.169). According to the reasons given above, Jane was no. ‧ 國. 學. doubt the most suitable participant that may generate the most information in this. ‧. context.. sit. y. Nat. In the current study, investigator’s familiarity with participants’ personalities,. io. er. school environment and atmosphere can not only elicit rich data but also increase the credibility of the results.. n. al. Ch. engchi. i n U. v. 3.2.2 Background of the participant. This is a medium-sized school composed of 30 classes. This school is located in New Taipei City, adjacent to Taipei City. The average academic performance in this school was around medium to low level. About one-third of the students were unmotivated learners who had no interest in English. Neither did they spend much time on textbook materials or other extracurricular learning resources. Jane, the most experienced teacher among the three, has been teaching for 22 years. During the first few years of her teaching career, she found that what she learned in previous teacher education courses seemed insufficient. Therefore, she 25.

(38) joined a summer training program made for school English teachers who sought professional development. This training program lasted for four summer vacations and involved various courses such as poetry, prose, linguistics and English teaching theories. Most important of all, it provided a great opportunity for Jane to exchange teaching experience with other high school teachers. Compared with other teachers in this school, Jane was more willing to try out new teaching techniques than other English teachers. For example, when publishers started to promote e-books, she was the first one to include them in her teaching. She even shared her experience with. 政 治 大 teachers who were skeptical about its usefulness and afraid of operating new 立. other colleagues, telling them how e-book facilitates learning and teaching. Some. software started to give it a try after Jane’s encouragement. Except for e-books,. ‧ 國. 學. other multimedia such as short clips, online articles and songs were also incorporated. ‧. into her class. Jane’s passion to teaching, rich experience and open-minded attitude. sit. y. Nat. on new things made her the most influential and respectful English teacher in this. io. 3.3 Data collection. al. n. atmosphere in this school.. er. school. In many ways, she acted as a senior leader who shaped the English teaching. Ch. engchi. i n U. v. In qualitative case studies, it is desirable for researchers to collect various types of data as a way to triangulate findings and increase trustworthiness (Hood, 2009; Merriam, 1998). Common sources of data involve interviews, direct observation and documents (Hood, 2009). To obtain rich and credible data, the current study employed two semi-structured interviews, classroom observations for two units which lasted for six class periods, field notes for classroom observation, four stimulated recall interviews about certain instructional decisions, field notes from English teachers’ monthly meetings, as well as the test paper compiled by Jane. 26.

(39) Details for each data source and how they were administered in the study are delineated in the following sections.. 3.3.1 Interviews Interviews were conducted in two forms: semi-structured interviews and stimulated recall interviews. The former aimed at documenting teachers’ stated beliefs, while the latter focused on the reasons of instructional decisions behind actual teaching practices.. 政 治 大 3.3.1.1 Semi-structured interviews 立. Semi-structured interviews refer to the kind of interview in which researchers. ‧ 國. 學. prepare some topics about general direction but are also open to accept any issues that. ‧. the interviewee brings out (Dörnyei, 2007; Nunan, 2001). Due to its adjustability, this. sit. y. Nat. instrument is popular among researchers who believe in interpretative nature of data. io. er. (Nunan, 2001). Since the focus of this study is to deeply portray English teachers’ grammar teaching tensions, the adoption of semi-structured interviews was suitable. n. al. i n C h depth and breadth. for generating data with sufficient engchi U. v. In the present study, two semi-structured interviews were employed for the sake. of obtaining sufficient data (Polkinghorne, 2005). They were administered at the beginning of the study, each of which lasted for one and a half hours. The two interviews were conducted in Chinese, the language that the participant was comfortable with. The first interview aimed at breaking the ice, establishing rapport and understanding teachers’ overall grammar teaching beliefs. After the first interview, the investigator collected concepts that were worth exploring or ideas that need further explanation as topics for the second interview (Dörnyei, 2007; Polkinghorne, 2005). The second interview concentrated on Jane’s grammar teaching 27.

(40) beliefs, stated practices and other issues about tensions. General topics covered in the interviews included (1) demographic information and autobiographical narratives about grammar learning and teaching, and (2) teachers’ stated beliefs and stated practices about grammar teaching. The interview questions were mostly open-ended, allowing participants to “develop their responses in ways which the interviewer might not have seen” (Campbell, McNamara, & Gilroy, 2004, p. 99). For example, the investigator initiated the talk with the lead-off question “Could you please tell me some general information about your teaching career, such. 政 治 大 participant’s answer, question like “What was your teaching experience like before 立 as years of teaching and the schools you used to teach at, etc?” Based on the. you came to this school?” was later raised in order to know more about the. ‧ 國. 學. participants’ prior teaching experience. These general questions then led to. ‧. autobiographical questions about personal history of grammar teaching and learning,. sit. y. Nat. which has been reported to significantly influence beliefs and practices (Borg, 2003,. io. er. 2006; Golombek & Johnson, 2004). Here, the investigator asked questions such as “Could you describe how you learned grammar in the past? How did your learning. al. n. v i n C hpresent grammar teaching experience as a student influence your methods?”, “You engchi U. mentioned that you joined a summer training program about English teaching. How did this experience influence you?” After these questions, the topics about teachers’ stated beliefs and practices were brought into the discussion. These topics were explored through a lead-off question: “Could you describe the typical teaching procedure in one unit?” and succeeded by questions about concrete grammar instruction practice such as “In terms of grammar instruction, can you tell me your detailed teaching procedure when it comes to a new grammar concept?” Other questions regarding the rationale behind participants’ grammar instructions followed. The questions included: “What do you think is the most helpful way of teaching 28.

(41) grammar to students in this school? Why do you think so?”, “Besides what you have mentioned above, what are the most common approaches in your grammar class? Why do you like to use them?” All interviews were audio-recorded and transcribed.. 3.3.1.2 Stimulated recall interviews A stimulated recall interview is an instrument in which participants are invited to reflect upon their thought process after performing certain tasks or experiencing some events (Dörnyei, 2007; Nunan & Bailey, 2009). To facilitate the recollection process,. 政 治 大 as video recordings, audio recordings, transcripts of these recordings or researchers’ 立. researchers usually provide relevant data collected during the events as stimulus, such. field notes (Nunan, 2001; Nunan & Bailey, 2009). Stimulated recalls are. ‧ 國. 學. recommended in classroom research because they can, as Nunan and Bailey (2009). ‧. states, “document the perspective of lesson participants without interrupting them. sit. y. Nat. while the lesson is in progress,” and “get better information than simply by asking. io. er. them to remember the lesson without support data” (p.259).. Based on the guidelines proposed by Dörnyei (2007), stimulated recall. al. n. v i n C hfollowed three principles: interviews in the present study (1) The stimulated recall engchi U interviews were held within two days after classroom observations to ensure. participants’ retention; (2) sufficient context information and audio recordings of teachers’ grammar instruction were provided as stimulus to elicit more responses; and (3) the interviews were conducted in the language that the participant were comfortable with. A total of four stimulated recalls were conducted throughout the observation in Chinese. Questions for stimulated recalls mainly centered on the reasons behind teachers’ particular instructional decisions and how the reasons related to their beliefs. For instance, “In this class, you spent 10 minutes explaining the differences between gerunds and present participles, what was your rationale behind 29.

(42) this instructional practice?” and “I noticed that you asked them to answer lots of questions about grammatical terminology today. Could you elaborate more about your purpose?” These questions helped reveal some insights valuable for the following analysis.. 3.3.2 Observation Borg (2003) believes that in research about language teachers’ beliefs, observing actual classroom practices is essential for acquiring a holistic picture toward the. 政 治 大 see what actually happened in the classroom to clarify and supplement teachers’ stated 立 phenomenon under investigation. Classroom observation in this study purported to. beliefs. Observations were conducted in a non-participant and unstructured manner.. ‧ 國. 學. In the former, the investigator sat quietly in the classroom and do not participate in. ‧. any classroom interaction (Dörnyei, 2007; Hood, 2009). In the latter, the investigator. sit. y. Nat. observed the general situation first and then decided which part of the data were more. io. er. important than others (Dörnyei, 2007).. Jane’s observations lasted two units, including six class periods. The decision of. al. n. v i n observing the whole unit instead of C “grammar section only” h e n g c h i U was to include all the. possible grammar teaching practice into consideration. Generally speaking, teachers do not mention grammar only in grammar sections. Grammar is often incorporated in other sections such as reading, dialogues and vocabulary as a way to review and refresh students’ memory. Observing two whole units allowed the investigator to see how and to what extent teachers’ beliefs were realized in different grammatical issues. Through the comparison of stated beliefs and grammar instructions, valuable data concerning tensions arose. Besides, due to the anxiety that cameras may bring to teachers and students (Phipps & Borg, 2009), all observations were audio-recorded instead of video-taped. Narrative field notes (Dörnyei, 2007; Nunan & Bailey, 2009) 30.

(43) were used to keep details that cannot be recorded audibly and also served as a record to remind the investigator what to explore in stimulated recalls. In addition to classroom observations, English teachers’ regular meetings also served as a useful data source. The meetings were held monthly for all the English teachers in this school to arrange school tasks, share teaching experiences, develop consensus about certain issues, or discuss problems on monthly test paper. In this meeting, teachers were free to talk about their problems on English teaching, and others who experienced similar problems would offer their advice. The investigator. 政 治 大 understanding about her teaching philosophy. 立. observed how Jane interacted with other teachers in the meetings to gain more. ‧ 國. 學. 3.3.3 Documents. ‧. Documents are also useful in informing researchers about the issue being studied. sit. y. Nat. (Polkinghorne, 2005). In qualitative studies, they may be in the forms of written data. io. er. (such as letters, reports, newspaper articles), visual data (such as paintings or photographs) or artifacts (such as tools and artwork) (Hood, 2009; Polkinghorne,. al. n. v i n C h documentary evidence 2005). In the present study, major included the e-book engchi U. provided by the publisher (with Jane’s teaching notes on it), the extracurricular teaching files in Jane’s notebook computer, and the monthly exam paper compiled by her. Having access to these documentary sources allowed the investigator to observe teachers’ beliefs and practices from another perspective which may or may not be in accordance with teachers’ stated beliefs. The test paper and the grammar teaching notes on the e-book reflected her beliefs about what to teach, how to teach, as well as expectations about what students should acquire after grammar instruction. The extracurricular teaching files in the notebook computer demonstrated Jane’s effort on actualizing certain beliefs. The resources all together revealed crucial 31.

(44) aspects about beliefs, practices and tensions.. 3.4 Procedures First, the investigator began to collect related literature since July, 2013. The process of literature collection continued through the whole research process. The procedures of data collection involved three stages: pre-observation, observation and post-observation. Pre-observation stage started from the beginning of the new semester and lasted for the whole September. The main purpose of this stage was for. 政 治 大 Two semi-structured interviews with the participant were administered during this 立. the investigator to get used to the research setting and establish trust with participants.. period. These two interviews centered on breaking the ice, establishing rapport and. ‧ 國. 學. understanding participants’ demographic information, teaching experience and stated. ‧. grammar teaching beliefs. At this stage, the investigator also gained participants’. sit. y. Nat. permission to have access to the documentary evidence mentioned previously. The. io. er. second stage lasted from October to December. Jane’s English class was observed for two units, and the investigator kept field notes at the same time. Stimulated recalls. al. n. v i n C h witnessed anUinstructional decision that were administered whenever the investigator engchi required further elaboration. The field notes of English teachers’ monthly meeting were recorded until the end of the semester, that is, January 2014.. 3.5 Data analysis As Stake (1995) simply put it, analysis is a “matter of giving meaning to first impressions as well as to final compilations” (p.71). In qualitative studies, data analysis is elaborated as a process that researchers identify and categorize all relevant data with an aim to find out the patterns of one’s acts and thought process (Seliger & Shohamy, 2003). 32.

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