Exploring change in preservice teachers' beliefs about English Language Learning and teaching

Increasing numbers of English language learners (ELLs) and diminishing services\nfor those students is resulting in mainstream teachers across the United States taking on\nthe responsibility of teaching ELLs. This demands the preparation of all teachers to teach\nELLs. Yet adequate preparation of these educators depends on insight into the beliefs\nthat preservice teachers carry with them to the classroom. These beliefs are critical in\ntheir impact on teacher behavior and teacher expectations of ELLs. Remarkably, what\npreservice teachers believe about ELL issues is overlooked in research. The purpose of\nthe present study was to look beyond these previously explored paths of ESL, bilingual,\nmulticultural, and foreign language education to discover preservice Pre-K through 8th\ngrade mainstream teachers’ beliefs about language learning in order to better inform\nfuture teacher preparation programs.\nThe research questions used to accomplish the purpose of this study focused on\nwhat beliefs pre-service teachers at Texas A&M University hold regarding second\nlanguage learning and teaching before ESL coursework, how those beliefs change after ESL coursework, and what variables influence these pre-service teachers’ beliefs about\nEnglish language learning and teaching?\nA total of 354 individuals participated in the study. They were involved in ESL\ncoursework during their participation in the study. The data were collected from August\nof 2006 to May of 2007.\nThis study had a mixed method design. The research instruments included a\nLikert-scale questionnaire and focus group interviews. The interviews were analyzed\naccording to the constant-comparative method. The questionnaires were analyzed based\ndescriptive statistics, paired sample t-tests, and hierarchical multiple regression.\nMajor findings of the study include that before ESL coursework, preservice\nteachers largely undervalued ELLs’ L1, yet they were aware of ELLs in mainstream\nenvironments and positive about ELLs themselves. Coursework was found to be\neffective in that after ESL coursework there was an obvious shift toward greater\nalignment in beliefs with principles of ESL education. Interviews underscored the role\nof field experience, teacher educators and ESL courses in impacting belief change.