Date of Graduation

5-2016

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Master of Education in Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages (MEd)

Degree Level

Graduate

Department

Curriculum and Instruction

Advisor/Mentor

Bowles, Freddie A.

Committee Member

Lincoln, Felicia F.

Second Committee Member

Yu, Lu

Keywords

Education; Grammar teaching; High school students' motivation; Kosovo; Public high schools; Second language methodologies; Teacher's beliefs and practices

Abstract

Many linguists have tried to answer when and how to teach grammar based on research, as well as whether to teach grammar at all. On the other hand, for many teachers, grammar is the backbone of language learning (Sitorus, 2012). This paper analyzes teachers’ beliefs and practices and their relationship regarding grammar teaching in Kosovo’s public high schools. Teachers’ beliefs are resistant to change (Williams & Burden, 1997); knowing what the majority of teachers in Kosovo believe to be true regarding grammar and language teaching can lead to an update on the curriculum of English Language Teaching programs in order to prevent a formation of beliefs that could negatively impact language teaching. The background of the study includes the importance of grammar on language learning and teaching, the effects of teachers’ beliefs and attitudes in their classrooms, high school students’ motivation for language learning, and a review of language teaching methods and approaches. Information and data were gathered through a survey completed by 48 teachers who teach in public high schools in Kosovo. Language teachers should be aware of the importance that their beliefs play toward the process of language learning. This study found that EFL teachers in public high schools in Kosovo believe that grammar should be taught systematically, explicitly, and inductively, and that the Audio-Lingual is the most pre-dominant EFL method used in public high schools in Kosovo. The study also found that teachers’ beliefs regarding the language of students’ responses affects teachers’ expectations on students’ responses, and that teachers’ beliefs about explicit and implicit instruction have an impact on teachers’ practiced instruction in their classrooms.

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