Teachers’ Beliefs about Teaching English to Elementary School Children

Recent research has focused much attention on teacher beliefs because beliefs are considered to greatly influence teaching practice. Teachers’ belief systems need critical inquiry so that teachers can reflect on their practices more closely and teacher training institutions can take necessary steps to improve teacher practice. This study compared beliefs held by 192 non-native in-service and pre-service teachers in Istanbul, Turkey. Data about the teachers’ beliefs were collected by means of a questionnaire and observations. The results indicated that both groups strongly supported communicative language teaching methodology, emphasizing the need for addressing children's educational and emotional needs. The agreement rates, however, differed significantly in some respects.