Teacher Cognition in Grammar Teaching: A Case Study in a Turkish EFL Context

Abstract

This Language Teacher Cognition (LTC) study primarily explores language teachers’ beliefs and practices about a common Instructed Second Language Acquisition (ISLA) construct: Grammar Teaching (GT). This study also aims to investigate to what extent teacher beliefs and practices compromise with each other and cognitive and contextual factors behind their cognition. The data were collected through interviews, observations, and stimulated recall with the teachers. The findings after a cross-case analysis revealed that course book-based beliefs, experience-based beliefs, lack of theoretical knowledge and inclination for communicative activities influence what teachers believe about GT. There are both congruent and incongruent relationships between beliefs and practices varying from one teacher to another due to the effect of experiential knowledge, unconscious decisions, and some contextual factors. The findings can contribute to the integration of LTC into ISLA studies, and to LTC framework by exploring the effects of many variables on teachers’ decision-making processes.

Keywords

• Language teacher cognition (LTC)
• grammar teaching (GT)
• teacher beliefs
• teacher practices

References

1. Andrews, K. L. Z. (2007). The effects of implicit and explicit instruction on simple and complex grammatical structures for adult English language learners. Tesl-Ej, 11(2), 1–15.
2. Basturkmen, H. (2007). Teacher beliefs and teacher training. The Teacher Trainer, 21(1), 8–10.
3. Basturkmen, H., Loewen, S., & Ellis, R. (2004). Teachers' stated beliefs about incidental focus on form and their classroom practices. Applied Linguistics, 25(2), 243-272.
4. Bogdan, R., & Biklen, S. K. (2003). Qualitative research for education: an introduction to theory and methods. (4th ed.). Boston, MA: Allyn & Bacon.
5. Borg, S. (1999). Studying teacher cognition in second language grammar teaching. System, 27(1), 19–31.
6. Borg, S. (2003). Teacher cognition in language teaching: A review of research on what language teachers think, know, believe, and do. Language teaching, 36(2), 81-109.
7. Borg, S. (2006). Teacher cognition and language education: Research and practice. London: Continuum.
8. Borg, S. (2011). The impact of in-service teacher education on language teachers’ beliefs. System, 39(3), 370–80.

9. Borg, S., & Burns, A. (2008). Integrating grammar in adult TESOL classrooms. Applied linguistics, 29(3), 456-482.
10. Boyatzis, R. E. (1998). Transforming qualitative information: Thematic analysis and code development. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
11. Burgess, R. G. (2011). The research process in educational settings: Ten case studies (Vol. 168). New York: Routledge.
12. Çakır, İ., & Kafa, S. (2013). English Language Teachers' Preferences in Presenting Target Language Grammar. Dil ve Edebiyat Egitimi Dergisi, 2(8), 39-51.
13. Creswell, J. W. (2007). Qualitative inquiry & research design – Choosing among five approaches (2nd ed.). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
14. DeKeyser, R. M. (1993). The effect of error correction on L2 grammar knowledge and oral proficiency. The Modern Language Journal, 77(4), 501-514.
15. Elgün-Gündüz, Z., Akcan, S., & Bayyurt, Y. (2012). Isolated form-focused instruction and integrated form-focused instruction in primary school English classrooms in Turkey. Language, Culture and Curriculum, 25(2), 157-171.
16. Ellis, R. (2010). Second language acquisition, teacher education and language pedagogy. Language Teaching, 43(2), 182-201.
17. Farrell, T. S., & Lim, P. C. P. (2005). Conceptions of grammar teaching: A case study of teachers’ beliefs and classroom practices. Tesl-Ej, 9(2), 1–13.
18. Fontana, A., & Frey, J. H. (1994). Interviewing: The art of science. In N. Denzin & Y. Lincoln (Eds.), Handbook of qualitative research (pp. 361–377). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
19. Garrett, N. (1986). The problem with grammar: what kind can the language learner use?. The Modern Language Journal, 70(2), 133-148.
20. Gass, S. M., & Varonis, E. M. (1994). Input, interaction, and second language production. Studies in Second Language Acquisition, 16(3), 283-302.
21. Glaser, B., & Strauss, A. (1967). The discovery of grounded theory: Strategies for qualitative research. Chicago, IL: Aldine.
22. Graus, J., & Coppen, P. A. (2016). Student teacher beliefs on grammar instruction. Language Teaching Research, 20(5), 571–599.
23. Holstein, J. A., & Gubrium, J. F. (1997). Active interviewing. In D. Silverman (Ed.), Qualitative research: Theory, method and practice. (pp. 113-29). London: Sage.
24. Holt-Reynolds, D. (1992). Personal history-based beliefs as relevant prior knowledge in course work. American Educational Research Journal, 29(2), 325-349.
25. Hos, R., & Kekec, M. (2014). The mismatch between non-native English as a foreign language (EFL) teachers' grammar beliefs and classroom practices. Journal of Language Teaching and Research, 5(1), 80-88.
26. Jafarigohar, M., & Kheiri, S. (2015). A comparison of teacher cognition and corrective feedback between university graduates and teachers certified in English language teaching. Theory and Practice in Language Studies, 5(11), 2320–2326.
27. Johnson, K. E. (1994). The emerging beliefs and instructional practices of preservice English as a second language teachers. Teaching and Teacher Education, 10(4), 439-452.
28. Kagan, D. M. (1992). Implication of research on teacher belief. Educational Psychologist, 27(1), 65-90 . Karavas-Doukas, E. (1996). Using attitude scales to investigate teachers' attitudes to the communicative approach. ELT Journal, 50(3), 187–198.
29. Liviero, S. (2017). Grammar teaching in secondary school foreign language learning in England: teachers’ reported beliefs and observed practices. Language Learning Journal, 45(1), 26–50.
30. Long, M. H. (2017). Instructed second language acquisition (ISLA): geopolitics, methodological issues, and some major research questions. Instructed Second Language Acquisition, 1(1), 7–44.
31. Lortie, D. (1975). Schoolteacher: A sociological analysis. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
32. Miles, M. B., & Huberman, A. M. (1994). Qualitative data analysis. London: Sage Publications.
33. Moini, M. R. (2009). The impact of EFL teachers’ cognition on teaching foreign language grammar, Pazhuhesh-e Zabanha-ye Khareji, (49), 141–164.
34. Nishimuro, M., & Borg, S. (2013). Teacher cognition and grammar teaching in a Japanese high school. JALT Journal, 35(1), 29–50.
35. Pajares, M. (1992). Teachers’ beliefs and educational research: Cleaning up a messy construct. Review of Educational Research, 62, 307–332.
36. Phipps, S., & Borg, S. (2009). Exploring tensions between teachers’ grammar teaching beliefs and practices. System, 37(3), 380–390.
37. Richards, J. C., Gallo, P. B., & Renandya, W. A. (2001). Exploring teachers’ beliefs and the processes of change. PAC Journal, 1(1), 41-58.
38. Sanchez, H. S., & Borg, S. (2014). Insights into L2 teachers’ pedagogical content knowledge: A cognitive perspective on their grammar explanations. System, 44(1), 45–53.
39. Schulz, R. A. (1996). Focus on form in the foreign language classroom: Students’ and teachers’ views on error correction and the role of grammar. Foreign Language Annals, 29, 343–364.
40. Shavelson, R. J., & Stern, P. (1981). Research on teachers’ pedagogical thoughts, judgments, decisions, and behavior. Review of Educational Research, 51(4), 455-498.
41. Silverman, D. (1993). Interpreting qualitative data: methods for analyzing talk, text, and interaction. London: Sage Publications.
42. Spada, N. (2007). Communicative language teaching. In International handbook of English language teaching (pp. 271-288). Boston, MA: Springer.
43. Spada, N., & Lightbown, P. M. (2008). Form‐focused instruction: Isolated or integrated?. TESOL Quarterly, 42(2), 181-207.
44. Uysal, H. H., & Bardakci, M. (2014). Teacher beliefs and practices of grammar teaching: focusing on meaning, form, or forms?. South African Journal of Education, 34(1), 1-16.
45. Yin, R. K. (2009). Case study research: Design and methods. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications.