Beliefs, Knowledge & Practices of Grammar Pedagogy

Lin, V. L. C. (2011). Beliefs, knowledge and practices of grammar pedagogy: A case study of specialist teachers at the Dyslexia Association of Singapore (Master’s thesis). Retrieved from http://libris.nie.edu.sg/

Background

The author found that although teachers’ beliefs, knowledge, assumptions, and attitudes have a powerful impact on their teaching practice, no study had been done to examine this relationship in teachers teaching in special needs institutions in Singapore.

Aims

This study investigated the degree of alignment between the beliefs, grammatical knowledge, and pedagogical practice of specialist teachers who taught English language to dyslexic learners at the Dyslexia Association of Singapore (DAS).

Sample

Four teachers participated in this study.

Method

Data were collected through lesson observations through video recordings, a questionnaire eliciting information about the teachers’ beliefs concerning grammar teaching, a test of the teachers’ grammatical competence, and in-depth interviews with the teachers.

Findings

The findings suggested no definite conclusion regarding the alignment between the four teachers’ pedagogical beliefs and practice.

The majority of the teachers believed that grammar was important and its instruction should be intensive, involving drills in a direct and explicit manner. The results from the grammar test revealed consistent weakness in the teachers’ grammatical competence and language awareness. This weakness could have prompted them to opt for a direct and explicit teaching of grammar as they could retain control over aspects of content and practice if everything was planned in advance.

The lesson observations showed that there was a general lack of consistency in the teachers’ pedagogical practices in teaching grammar that ranged from explicit to implicit to eclectic. Their educational experiences as learners might have influenced the way they taught grammar. As most of the teachers only studied grammar at primary and secondary school levels, their pedagogical knowledge was limited, weak, and varied.

Implications

The author concluded that initial teacher training at the DAS needed to be improved, especially since the teachers were dealing with students with learning difficulties related to language. She believed a common pedagogical belief and practice system should be established.

Original article retrieved from NIE Digital Repository.