Iranian EFL Teachers’ Perspectives on SLA Research and EFL Pedagogy: Do Majors Matter?

Abstract

Considering the issues of EFL (English as a Foreign Language) teacher education, recruitment, and supervision system in Iran, this study investigated the Iranian EFL teachers’ familiarity, involvement with, accessibility to, and their judgments about usefulness of SLA (Second Language Acquisition) research. The sources the teachers consult about teaching and SLA research were also explored. Moreover, the mentioned issues were explored in terms of the teachers’ majors in order to find any significant associations between the teachers’ majors and the raised issues or any significant differences between the two participating groups of teachers’ perspectives in the above-mentioned subjects. Quantitative data were collected through a questionnaire. 142 participating Iranian EFL teachers were divided into two groups of TEFL (Teaching English as a Foreign Language) and Non-TEFL majors based on their university degrees and their opinions were compared. Significant associations were found between the teachers’ majors and their familiarity with and their access to SLA research and materials. Moreover, significant differences were found between the opinions of two groups of teachers about the relevance and usefulness of SLA research for classroom teaching as well as two of the items under the topic of teacher-researcher relationship. However, both groups of the Iranian EFL teachers seemed to be willing to cooperate with the SLA researchers and no significant difference was revealed between them. To improve the condition, creating a culture of collaboration as well as the amending of the language teacher education programs and supervision system are vital steps to be taken in Iran.