Abstract
Research on the beliefs of pre-service and in-service English teachers at the primary, secondary, and tertiary levels has provided useful knowledge to teacher education curriculum designers. However, the beliefs of pre-service pre-primary English as a foreign language (EFL) teachers have not been addressed. Thus, a case study was conducted in one pre-primary education program at a public university in the Macau Special Administrative Region of China. Data was collected by providing participants ( N = 63) a writing prompt aimed at gathering their beliefs about the teaching and learning of English in the pre-primary context. Qualitative content analysis was used to analyze these written reflection reports of third-year pre-service pre-primary English teachers with the aim of uncovering their beliefs about teaching and learning EFL. Results showed the participants held beliefs about classroom practice, EFL learners and learning, pedagogical knowledge, teaching, content, goals of language teaching, the role of teaching, subject, schooling, hearsay, self, learning to teach, and the teacher education program. Most participants mentioned their beliefs about classroom practice, EFL learners and learning, and pedagogical knowledge, while very few participants wrote about self, learning to teach, or the teacher education program. While many of the beliefs held by the participants were found to be substantiated by early childhood education research, some unfounded beliefs were also uncovered. The results highlighted a need for curriculum designers to reconsider the education program’s ability to meet the needs of the pre-service teachers. Participants required additional training in English content knowledge, use as a medium of instruction, and pronunciation. The polarized view of teaching the mother tongue and EFL should be reconsidered in light of the current views on bilingualism and bilingual education.
Highlights
In recent years, the global discussion regarding the direction that early childhood English education should take has grown into a heated debate (Copland & Garton, 2014)
While it is evident that pre-primary English as a foreign language (EFL) teacher beliefs about learning and teaching English affect their decision-making and their potential to transform the practice of teaching, at this point in time, scholars and teacher educators know little about
Using a case study method, the researchers found that the participants held beliefs about classroom practice, EFL learners and learning, pedagogical knowledge, teaching, content, goals of language teaching, the role of teaching, subject, schooling, hearsay, self, learning to teach, and the teacher education program
Summary
The global discussion regarding the direction that early childhood English education should take has grown into a heated debate (Copland & Garton, 2014). As teachers are often given decision-making power to select teaching materials and approaches used to instruct language learners, many of these decisions regarding early childhood EFL learners have been considered controversial (Zheng, 2009). These decisions are controversial as they can have powerful consequences—it has been acknowledged that English teachers’ decision-making impacts students’ English learning outcomes (Lin, 2013). While it is evident that pre-primary EFL teacher beliefs about learning and teaching English affect their decision-making and their potential to transform the practice of teaching, at this point in time, scholars and teacher educators know little about
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