Exploring the interplay between a non-native English language teacher’s pedagogical beliefs, classroom practices and her students’ learning experiences regarding L2 grammar

Abstract

The aim of this study is to explore the interplay between a non-native English language teacher’s pedagogical beliefs, classroom practices and her students’ learning experiences regarding L2 grammar using a case study design. For the purpose of the study, a qualitative research was carried out. The study utilized purposeful sampling. Among the purposeful sampling types, convenience sampling was employed. The study was conducted in a preparatory classroom of a private university’s Department of Foreign Languages in Istanbul, Turkey. The tools that were used for data collection were background interviews, semi-structured interviews, classroom observation, stimulated recalls, teacher reflective notes, student academic diaries, written tasks, document collection and supplementary data collection. The analysis of the data indicated that there is a dynamic relationship between the non-native English language teacher’s pedagogical beliefs, her classroom practices and her students’ learning experiences regarding L2 grammar. The participating teacher’s own foreign language learning experience, teacher education she had received at the university and her teaching experiences, were to be seen constitutive of her pedagogical beliefs regarding L2 grammar. On the one hand, the participating teacher exhibited, to a great extent, congruence between her stated beliefs and her observed classroom practices regarding L2 grammar and on the other hand, some of her stated beliefs of were not evident in her observed classroom practices regarding L2 grammar. Analysis revealed that some of the participating teacher’s perceptions about the students’ expectations, and some external factors were overriding her beliefs and causing incongruence between her stated beliefs and observed classroom practices. These external factors were revealed as the element of time and the backwash effect of the exams. The participating students’ L2 grammar learning seemed to be mediated by some common elements. Participating students highlighted that some affective and some instructional factors mediated their L2 grammar learning. The findings of this study underlined that identification of the interplay between a non-native English language teacher’s pedagogical beliefs, classroom practices and her students’ L2 learning experiences enables gaining deeper insights into L2 grammar teaching and learning.