Language Teachers' Attitudes, Beliefs, Professional Knowledge, and Views on Professional Development: An Exploratory Study at a Preschool TEFL Setting

Abstract

This article reports on an exploratory study of English as a foreign language (EFL) teachers' attitudes, beliefs, and professional knowledge about teaching EFL (TEFL) in a preschool setting in China. The investigation is structured on a two‐dimensional grid based on Calderhead's (1996) categorisation of teachers' attitudes and beliefs and Richards's (1996) two‐dimensional division of EFL teachers' professional knowledge. It aims to explore relationships between teachers' attitudes and beliefs and their professional knowledge as well as their connections to views on a TEFL professional development program. The study shows that EFL teachers demonstrate an eminent form‐focused inclination in their beliefs and professional knowledge, which is translated into a strong desire for new teaching methods to be introduced in a professional development program. The article concludes with a brief account of the study's implications for the design of a TEFL professional development program.