Teachers’ Beliefs Regarding Foreign Language Grammar Instruction at the Tertiary Level in Bangladesh

Abstract

This paper reports on a survey carried out to investigate the beliefs of teachers about grammar instruction in the EFL classroom at the tertiary level. English is a compulsory component of the syllabus at the undergraduate level across all disciplines in Bangladesh. Grammar instruction is an integral part of English language teaching at all academic levels. This study was undertaken to assess the beliefs of tertiary level teachers regarding the effectiveness of grammar instruction. The research was carried out at three private universities in Dhaka, Bangladesh. Participants of the study were teachers who were teaching English as a foreign language at the undergraduate level. The questionnaire was administered both in-person and online due to the pandemic restrictions. Attempt was made to find out the beliefs English language teachers have about the pedagogical procedures related to focus on form, specifically explicit grammar instruction. Data was analyzed quantitatively using percentages. The findings indicate that teachers believe grammar instruction is important for language learning, however there are varying opinions on the best way to teach grammar. Some teachers believe that grammar should be taught through explicit instruction, while others believe that it should be taught implicitly through discovery and practice using real-life simulations.