An Investigation of Turkish University EFL Teachers’ Beliefs about Writing in English

Abstract

The study investigated instructors’ beliefs about the nature of L2 writing, teaching L2 writing, and assessing L2 writing, using inventory and interview data from 106 instructors in the Turkish EFL context. The results showed that although the Turkish EFL instructors value the process-oriented and genre-oriented approaches to writing, they cannot disregard the product-oriented approach. It was also found that the instructors do not have sufficient knowledge about the writing assessment terminology and the digital tools that can be used to teach writing. Moreover, the instructors did not reveal strong beliefs regarding portfolio assessment, self-assessment, and peer feedback. Based on the findings, several implications were suggested for teacher trainers and policymakers in terms of designing pre-service teacher training and in-service teacher development programs.