Ziad Shatat

Teachers' Beliefs and Classroom Practices: a Study on Grammar Teaching in Sharjah Preparatory Schools Ziad Shatat

The main purpose of this exploratory study was to investigate teachers? beliefs towards grammar teaching and their practices when teaching grammar in EFL classrooms. It aimed to collect evidence of their instructional practices and examine the relationships between their thoughts and actions. Furthermore, it attempted to stand on the probable contextual factors that influence the transformation of beliefs into practice. All the teachers involved in this study were Arabs, teaching English language in government preparatory schools in Sharjah. In the first stage of the study, 46 in-service teachers were invited to fill in a self-report questionnaire to elicit their beliefs and classroom practices regarding grammar teaching. In the second stage, two semi structured interviews were conducted with these teachers to gain deeper understanding of their personal opinions, beliefs and perspectives. The findings revealed that teachers undeniably have a set of multifaceted beliefs regarding the eight beliefs dimensions under study including the grammar role in learning, grammar approaches, grammar practising, error treatment, the use of grammatical terminology and students' first language.