The Influence of Teachers’ Beliefs on Learner Autonomy: A Descriptive Inquiry of a Native English Teacher’s English Writing Instruction

• Main Authors: Yu-Lin Kuo, 郭渝琳
• Other Authors: Chuan-Hsiu Hung
• Format: Others
• Language: en_US
• Published: 2014
• Online Access: http://ndltd.ncl.edu.tw/handle/w3qdyv

碩士 === 國立雲林科技大學 === 應用外語系 === 102 === Teachers’ beliefs of language learning and teaching, in all aspects, have been widely studied in the last two decades. However, few researchers have conducted studies on the English writing instructors’ beliefs and even fewer on their beliefs of learner autonomy, especially in EFL contexts. This study aimed to describe and explain an experienced native English teacher’s beliefs in writing instruction and learner autonomy at a technological institute and how these beliefs affect the classroom practices as well as the students’ learning experience in the writing class. By adopting qualitative method of purposeful sampling, a native South African English teacher and 12 EFL sophomore students in a university of technology in central Taiwan were invited in this study. Data collection techniques, including semi-structured interviews, class observations, and written documents, were adopted. Results of this study showed that some contextual factors resulted in the changing of classroom practices. They were the backgrounds, characteristics, capabilities, and needs of EFL students, as well as the educational system and cultural differences, which should be considered by teachers before relinquishing teacher control. To conclude, this study may be of importance in explaining the complex relationship between teachers’ beliefs and classroom practices, as well as how they affected students’ learning.