To operate in our modern society an individual need to possess a well-rounded reading ability, and to know of and use reading strategies is crucial for learners to develop this ability. The present study sets out to explore the beliefs of Swedish English teachers regarding the significance of reading and reading strategies. Furthermore, the study aims to investigate to what extent their classroom practice of teaching explicit reading strategies instructions is consistent with their beliefs. In this qualitative study, four 7-9 English teachers and two student groups participated. These come from two Swedish schools with different social-economic backgrounds. The data was collected by conducting content analysis of the teachers' lesson plans and conducting semi-structured interviews with both the teachers and students. The results show that the teachers express positive attitude to reading and reading strategies as they believe that these constitute essential elements in the communicative classroom. However, the results also indicate that the teachers’ actual classroom practice for reading strategies is not always consistent with their beliefs: for example, despite all teachers being positive to reading and reading strategies’ instruction, only the teachers from the school with lower social-economic background provide reading strategies’ instruction explicitly. Further, the results indicate that factors such as the teachers’ theoretical conceptions, time contraints, student composition and proficiency level, the school’s socio-economic background are the reasons for the teachers including explicit reading strategies’ instruction in their repertoire.

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The purpose of the study was to determine if a relationship existed between primary teacher beliefs, traditional or developmentally appropriate; and primary teacher practice, traditional or constructivist. A multi-case study design was employed for this qualitative research study. Eight teachers completed the Primary Teacher Questionnaire (PTQ) to determine the study group. Based on their responses to the teacher beliefs questionnaire, 3 teachers were chosen to further participate in the study. Three main research questions were analyzed with individual and cross-case analysis. Triangulation of data included observations, Assessment of Practices in Early Elementary Classrooms (APEEC) scores determined from observation data, and individual teacher interviews. The 3 teachers' initial data from the questionnaire were also used. The teacher with traditional beliefs demonstrated traditional practices. The teacher with developmentally appropriate beliefs demonstrated constructivist practices. The teacher whose beliefs fell in the middle demonstrated practices that were more constructivist than traditional.

The following dissertation aims to scrutinize amongst other things, some English teachers’ beliefs and thoughts concerning communicative language teaching at two schools in Sweden and France. Since the steering documents of both countries clearly promote a communicative approach to language teaching, we wanted to see how it could be applied in these two different contexts as well as how it was interpreted by some teachers. With the information obtained from qualitative interviews and classroom observations, we juxtapose what the teachers have said with the steering documents for both countries, their implementations of CLT and the teaching methods adopted in general. In order to do this, an analysis and comparison of the two syllabuses for English was necessary and we also needed to set a foundation by discussing the theories and possible complexities of CLT and teacher beliefs. This discussion could not be valid without also taking into account the status and influences of the English language in Sweden and France.The analysis of the two steering documents showed similar ideas about language teaching. However, Sweden has a separate syllabus for English, whilst France has a joint one for foreign languages. Furthermore, from our interviews and classroom observations we found that all teachers taught grammar in their native language. We also found the French school to be more traditional in that the lessons were often teacher-centered and that the teachers did not allow for any errors in the spoken language. The difference in discipline between the schools was another finding which we found surprising. Finally, our results also indicate occasional discordance between the teachers’ thoughts and ideals and their actions in the classroom.

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Providing feedback on learners’ written production is an integral part of English as a second language (L2) teaching, and it is thus important that teachers know when and how to apply such feedback, and how it affects learners. In the current study, we use a semi-structured interview design focusing on the concepts of implementation, motivation and emotion to explore teacher beliefs regarding the usefulness and reception of written corrective feedback (WCF) in a Swedish, lower-secondary L2 English teaching context. Four lower-secondary school English L2 teachers who used WCF regularly in their work participated in the study. It was found that teachers consider WCF given in the form of metalinguistic feedback to be the most commonly used type of feedback. Metalinguistic feedback was seen as an effective way of giving feedback on repeated errors. WCF was reported as having a positive effect on some learners’ motivation. However, the teachers also expressed a concern that the feedback could demotivate weaker learners if it was too extensive and because of this reported choosing to limit or adapt their feedback in such cases. They also stressed the importance of teachers knowing the learners to help avoid evoking negative emotions when receiving their feedback. In light of these results, we argue that teachers should be mindful of factors that could affect their learners, both positively and negatively, in connection with providing WCF in the L2 classroom.

The relationships between teacher opinions about Virginia's Standards of Learning testing program and five variables related to teachers' backgrounds and present working conditions were examined in the context of five dependent variables represented as discrete domains. A systematic sample of 464 members of the Virginia Education Association (VEA) was selected to participate in the study. A 52 item survey was mailed to the members of the sample to gather their opinions about the outcomes they believed were occurring as a result of Virginia's Standards of Learning testing program and the state's Regulations Establishing Standards for Accrediting Public Schools in Virginia. Three hundred fifty-two usable questionnaires were returned, for a 76% return rate. Descriptive statistics were used to portray teacher responses in five domains. Three way ANOVAs were computed to determine if any significant main effects or interactions were evident among the independent variables of tenure status, SOL test grade status, and school socio-economic level. Telephone surveys of twelve randomly selected teachers were conducted to enhance understanding of three dependent variables (domains): student outcomes, instructional outcomes, and teacher outcomes. These data were analyzed using qualitative strategies. Findings: Teachers' responses to the mailed survey indicated relatively unfavorable opinions about the outcomes of Virginia's Standards of Learning testing program and related regulations. Outcomes for instructional programs and for teachers themselves were rated more unfavorably than outcomes for students, outcomes for schools, or outcomes for public confidence. The ANOVA analyses indicated that teacher opinions did not vary meaningfully by any of the variables studied or by any combination of these variables. In short, even though a systematic sample of VEA members from throughout the state was surveyed, the opinions of this group of teachers were remarkably similar. Interview data confirmed that teachers had many concerns about outcomes associated with SOL testing. The interviews also indicated that teachers attributed several positive outcomes to SOL testing as well. Several rival hypotheses are presented to explain the apparent homogeneity of opinions among this systematic sample of Virginia educators. / Ed. D.

This study addresses issues of English as a foreign language (EFL) practice in the attainment-oriented context at the tertiary level. Referring to the widespread use of testing as an instrument for the enhancement of teaching quality, the study stresses the importance of teachers’ epistemological beliefs and other contextual factors to mediate teacher’s pedagogical decision-making. Four EFL teachers at Air Force colleges in Taiwan were selected to participate in the present research. The EFL teachers’ beliefs were collected by semi-structured interviews, and actual classroom practices were analyzed through a taxonomy of teachers’ questions, a taxonomy of teachers’ corrective feedback and Communicative Orientation Language Teaching (COLT) scheme analysis. The evidence of this case study generated four archetypal patterns of washback based on aligned or oppositional beliefs and its contexts. The study concludes that test designers’ expectations to use a test to innovate the curriculum do not always produce the desired results. Education reform that requires pedagogical changes of practitioners but fails to provide re-attribution training and sufficient resources to effect belief changes will likely yield resistance and pressure. Finally, implications of four archetypes of washback on the teaching of English are presented in order to sustain the successful testing, teaching, and learning.