The relationship between stated beliefs, classroom practices, and reading research studies of oral corrective feedback in four ESL teachers
A call for a bridge between research and practice is nothing new, yet it seems to be an impossible task to accomplish. Despite the dedicated efforts made by numerous researchers in the past, the world is still largely separate between researchers and teachers. One piece of evidence is that research studies seem to have only a little impact on classroom practices. However, there is a paucity of studies on this issue in the field of second language teaching. Therefore, the present study was conducted in the hope of filling this gap, precisely, in order to investigate how ESL teachers would respond when they read research studies.Four teachers who were teaching a speaking and listening class at an intensive English program at a large Midwestern university in the US and their students participated in the present study. These teachers with varying degrees of teaching experience read three research studies on oral corrective feedback and a PowerPoint presentation that included a taxonomy of oral corrective feedback and a summary of each of these three studies. Teachers' teaching philosophy, stated beliefs and classroom practices of oral corrective feedback were investigated through three classroom observations, two interviews, and two stimulated recalls over a semester. The classroom data were analyzed using AS-units, and a content analysis was conducted for the data of interviews and stimulated recalls. The results show that, regardless of their teaching experience, teachers' classroom practices of oral corrective feedback remained largely intact. In regards to their stated beliefs on oral corrective feedback, one of the teachers, who was an MA TESOL student with limited teaching experience, showed a gradual formation of her stated beliefs on oral corrective feedback after reading the research studies. However, her stated beliefs were still unstable and vulnerable in the sense that they showed a radical shift caused by another reading in one of the classes that she was taking in her program. In contrast, the other three full-time teachers with abundant teaching experience had already established firm stated beliefs on oral corrective feedback, and reading the research studies did not have any influence on their practices. However, their consciousness of oral corrective feedback was raised. What was common among the four teachers was that, faced with contrasting findings and claims proposed by the three research studies, they were highly selective with which study they identified; they were basically choosing the study whose findings or claims corresponded with their stated beliefs on oral corrective feedback prior to reading.Finally, the participation in the present study, especially the stimulated recalls, seemed to have provided the teachers with opportunities to reflect on their stated beliefs and classroom practices of oral corrective feedback. In this regard, although research studies may not have a direct impact on the stated beliefs and classroom practices of oral corrective feedback of language teachers, especially those with ample teaching experience, it can be concluded that research studies still have an invaluable role to play in their professional development.
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- In Collections
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Electronic Theses & Dissertations
- Copyright Status
- In Copyright
- Material Type
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Theses
- Authors
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Kamiya, Nobuhiro
- Thesis Advisors
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Loewen, Shawn
Friedman, Debra
- Committee Members
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Gass, Susan
Goertler, Senta
- Date Published
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2012
- Subjects
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Language and languages--Study and teaching
Reading--Research
Second language acquisition
Teachers--Training of
- Program of Study
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Second Language Studies
- Degree Level
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Doctoral
- Language
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English
- Pages
- vii, 304 pages
- ISBN
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9781267586100
1267586109
- Permalink
- https://doi.org/doi:10.25335/4djb-sc37