Toward Teaching Innovatively: L2 Teachers’ Belief Change and Development

Abstract

Rapid technological advances and enhanced global cooperation have led to tremendous changes in access to information and new modes of communication and, hence, calls have been made for instantaneous adjustments in education (Fullan, 2007). Despite global access to internet-enhanced modes of communication and up-to-date information on all subjects – including those relating to new and effective approaches to pedagogy – traditional teacher-centered teaching prevails in many EFL contexts. This is the case even though this approach to teaching has been insufficient to address challenges in EFL teaching. This study explores how the teaching beliefs of 12 EFL teachers changed as they learned to teach innovatively and to teach with features of learner-centeredness and L2 interaction. In the context of a MA program capstone course, the teachers were introduced to the essential elements, such as learner-centeredness and L2 interaction, involved in four approaches to teaching innovatively: task-based language teaching, problem-posing, scripting and oral interpretation, and extensive reading. The data analyzed comprised the teachers’ belief reports, written reflections on teaching interactively, interview accounts, and the teacher educator’s observational notes. The results of this study revealed changes in teachers’ beliefs about innovative teaching with the aforementioned features, the influential forces bringing about the change, and teachers’ growing expertise in using and drawing on concepts in teaching practice.