EFL Teachers’ Cognitions about Teaching Speaking Skills

Authors

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.26817/16925777.1308

Keywords:

Cognition, EFL teachers, Engish language teaching, Language skills, Teaching speaking

Abstract

The main purpose of this study was to explore EFL teachers’ cognitions about teaching speaking. To achieve the purpose, a sequential mixed-methods research strategy was employed. The participants were secondary and preparatory school English language teachers in Gurage Zone. A questionnaire was administered to 192 teachers while an interview was conducted with four teachers. In analyzing the data, descriptive and bivariate analyses were computed for the quantitative data, and a qualitative content analysis was used for the qualitative data. The findings revealed that speaking was not the skill teachers enjoyed teaching and learners liked to learn. The teachers considered speaking as the weakest part of their learners. To most of the teachers, learning speaking was different and difficult from learning other language skills. So far as the classroom activities are concerned, the teachers regarded group discussion as the most effective. Despite all the problems, the teachers’ self-concept was optimistic, but they were pessimistic about the students’ interest in learning to speak. It was found that most teachers’ beliefs were primarily influenced by prior teaching experiences. The teachers ranked the relationship between their beliefs and the classroom practices as fair. Teachers thought the teaching of speaking was predominantly influenced by learner-related factors. Moreover, there were teachers’ beliefs that showed statistically significant relationships to their gender and year of teaching experience. The study concludes that the teaching of speaking is still one of the disregarded areas of English language teaching. Based on the findings, further investigations and training are also recommended. 

Downloads

Download data is not yet available.

Author Biographies

Habtamu Adem, Wolkite University, Ethiopia

is an English lecturer at Wolkite University, College of Social Science and Humanities, Department of English Language and Literature. He is a PhD candidate at Addis Ababa University, College of Humanities, Language Studies, and Journalism and Communication, Department of Foreign Languages and Literature. His area of research interest include teachers’ cognitions and classroom practices, teaching English to young learners, teaching speaking, and teaching grammar.

Mendida Berkessa, Addis Ababa University, Ethiopia

Ph.D. is an assistant professor of English at Addis Ababa University, College of Humanities, Language Studies, and Journalism and Communication, Department of Foreign Languages and Literature

References

Awol Endris (1999). Conceptions of language teaching and learning and classroom decision making: A case study of high school English teachers in Ethiopia. Unpublished Ph.D. Thesis. Addis Ababa: Addis Ababa University.

Baker, J. and Westrup, H. (2003). Essential speaking skills: A handbook for English language teachers. London: Continuum.

Birhanu Simegn (2012). A study of secondary school EFL teachers’ pedagogical beliefs and classroom practices. Unpublished Ph.D. Thesis. Addis Ababa: Addis Ababa University.

Borg, S. (2003). Teacher cognition in language teaching: A review of research on what language teachers think, know, believe, and do. Language Teaching, 36(2), 81–109. http://doi.org/10.1017/S0261444803001903

Borg, S. (2009). Introducing language teacher cognition. http://www.education.leeds.ac.uk/research/files/145.pdf

Brown, H. D. (1993). TESOL at twenty-five: What are the issues? On State of the Art TESOL Essays (pp. 16-31). Virginia: TESOL.

Brown, G., & Yule, G. (1983). Teaching the spoken language (2nd ed.). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Burns, A. (1992). Teacher beliefs and their influence on classroom practice. Prospect, 7(3), 56-66.

Burns, A. (1998). Teaching speaking. Annual Review of Applied Linguistics, 102–123.

Chafe, W. (1994). Discourse, consciousness, and time. Chicago and London: The University of Chicago Press. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0142716400010523

Creswell, J.W. (2003). Research design: Qualitative, quantitative, and mixed methods approaches (2nd ed.). London: SAGE Publications.

Dorneyi, Z. (2007). Research methods in applied linguistics. Quantitative, qualitative and mixed methodologies. Oxford: OUP.

Ellis, R. and Barkhuizen, G. (2005). Analyzing learner language. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

Esayas Teshome (2019). The practice of teaching speaking skills: The case of three secondary schools in Gedeo Zone, Ethiopia. IOSR Journal of Humanities and Social Science (IOSR-JHSS); 24 (3)

Farrell, S. & Lim, P. (2005). Conceptions of grammar teaching: A case study of teachers' Beliefs and classroom practices. TESL-EJ, 9 (2): 1-13. https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/EJ1065837.pdf

Goh, C., & Burns, A. (2012). Teaching speaking: A holistic approach. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Gudu, O. (2015). Teaching speaking skills in English language using classroom activities in secondary school level in Eldoret Municipality, Kenya. Journal of Education and Practice: 6 (35). https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/EJ1086371.pdf

Halliday, M.A.K. (1989). Spoken and written language. Oxford University Press: USA.

Hedrick, B., Harmon, M. & Linerode, M. (2004). Teachers' beliefs and practices of vocabulary instruction with social studies textbooks in grades 4-8. Reading Horizons, 45 (2), 103-125. https://scholarworks.wmich.edu/reading_horizons/vol45/iss2/2

Horwitz, E. (1987). Surveying student beliefs about language learning, in Anita Wenden and Joan Rubin, Learner Strategies in Language Learning, (c) pp. 127-8. Reprinted by permission of Prentice Hall, Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey.

Johnson, K. (1992). The relationship between teachers' beliefs and practices during literacy instruction for non-native speakers of English.

Journal of Reading Behavior 24: 83-108. https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1080/10862969209547763

Kaski-Akhawan, H. (2013). Teaching and learning oral skills in Finnish Upper Secondary School: A study of students’ and teachers’ views on oral skills education. Master’s thesis, University of Jyväskylä Department of Languages English.

Khader, R. (2012). Teachers' pedagogical beliefs and actual classroom practices in social studies instruction. American International Journal Contemporary Research, 2 (1), 73-92. http://www.aijcrnet.com/journals/Vol_2_No_1_January_2012/9.pdf

Kim-yin, W. (2006). Teacher beliefs and grammar teaching practices: Case studies of four ESL teachers. (Thesis). University of Hong Kong, Pokfulam, Hong Kong SAR. http://dx.doi.org/10.5353/th_b3734189

Leong, L. and Ahmadi, S. (2017). An analysis of factors influencing learners’ English speaking skill. International Journal of Research in English Education. https://doi.org/10.18869/ACADPUB.IJREE.2.1.34

Levelt, W. J. M. (1995). The ability to speak: from intentions to spoken words. European Review, 3(1), 13–23. https://doi.org/10.1017/S1062798700001290

Lindahl, K.(2018).Tasks for teaching speaking to beginners. The TESOL Encyclopedia of English Language Teaching. John Wiley & Sons.

Lowenthal, P., & Muth, R. (2008). Constructivism. In E. F. Provenzo, Jr. (Ed.), Encyclopedia of the social and cultural foundations of education. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.

Mansour, N. (2009). Science teachers' beliefs and practices: Issues, implications and research agenda. International Journal of Environment & Science Education: Vol. 4 (1): 25-48. Available on: http://www.ijese.com/

Mattheoudakis, M. (2007). Tracking changes in pre-service EFL teacher beliefs in Greece: A longitudinal study. Teaching & Teacher Education, 23, 1272-1288. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tate.2006.06.001

Mujis, D. (2004). Doing quantitative research in education with SPSS. London: SAGE Publication Inc.

Musliadi, U. (2016). The problems of teaching speaking with respect to the teaching methodology: Task-based language teaching. Ethical Lingua, 3, (1), 74-88.

Nishimaki, K. (2013). Characteristics of spoken and written communication in the opening and closing sections of instant messaging. Unpublished MA Thesis: Portland State University.

Pajares, M.F. (1992). Teachers’ beliefs and educational research: Cleaning up a messy construct. Review of Educational Research, 62(3), 307-332. https://doi.org/10.3102%2F00346543062003307

Pehkonen, E., & Pietilä, A. (2003). On relationships between beliefs and knowledge in mathematics education.

Pennington M, Richards JC (2016) Teacher identity in language teaching: Integrating personal, contextual, and professional factors. RELC Journal 47(1): 5–24. https://doi.org/10.1177%2F0033688216631219

Phipps, S. and Borg, S. (2009). Exploring tensions between teachers' grammar teaching beliefs and practices. System, 37 (2009): 380-390. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.system.2009.03.002

Rhalmi, M. (2017). How to teach speaking using a discovery approach. http://myenglishpages.com/blog/how-to-teach-speaking-using-a-discovery-approach/

Richards, J. (2006), Communicative language teaching today. New York: Cambridge University Press.

Richards, J. (2008). Teaching listening and speaking from theory to practice. New York: Cambridge University Press.

Richards, J. & Lockhart, C. (1996). Reflective teaching in second language classrooms. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Richards, J., & Rodgers, T. (1999). Approaches and methods in language teaching. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Richardson, V. (1996). The role of attitudes and beliefs in learning to teach. Handbook of Research on Teacher Education, 2, 102–119.

Sawir, E. (2005). Language difficulties of international students in Australia: The effects of prior learning experience. International Education Journal, 6(5), 567 - 580.

Seyoum Tefera (1996). Attempts at educational reform: A top-down or a bottom-up reform. Ethiopian Journal of Education, 16(1), 1—37.

Shamim, F. (2008).Trends, issues and challenges In English language education in Pakistan. Asia Pacific Journal of Education, 2008, Volume 28, Issue 3, pp. 235-249. https://doi.org/10.1080/02188790802267324

Shigeru, S. (2012). Language teacher cognition in the case of Japanese teachers of English at secondary school in Japan: An exploratory study. Ph.D. thesis, University of Stirling. 33 Selected Questions about teacher cognition The Language Teacher Cognition Inventory (LTCI).

Skehan, P. (1991). Individual differences in second language learning. Studies in Second Language Acquisition; 13,275-298. USA, CUP.

Strauss, A. and Corbin, J. (1998). Basics of qualitative research: Techniques and procedures for developing grounded theory, 2nd Edition. Thousand Oaks, Calif; Sage.

Talley, P. (2014). Implicit and explicit teaching of English speaking in the EFL classroom. International Journal of Humanities and Social Science, 4 (6), 38-46.

Thornbury, S. (2005). How to teach Speaking. Harlow: Longman.

Thornbury, S.,& Slade, D. (2006). Conversation: From description to pedagogy. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Tleuov, A. (2016). The teaching of speaking: An investigation into the relationship between teachers’ beliefs and practices in Kazakhstani State Secondary School EFL classrooms. Unpublished Ph.D. dissertation.

Ur, P. (1991). A course in language teaching: Practice and theory. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Vibulphol, J. (2004). Beliefs about language learning and teaching approaches of pre-service EFL teachers in Thailand. Unpublished Ph.D. Dissertation, Oklahoma State University.

Woods, D. (1996). Teacher cognition in language teaching: Beliefs, decision-making and classroom practice. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Yero, J. (2002). Teaching in mind: How teacher thinking shapes education: Mind Flight Publishing.

Yoneska, M. & Tanaka, H. (2013). First-year Japanese University Students’ Language Learning beliefs: Continuity and Change. Teaching English as a Second or Foreign Language (TESL-EJ); The Electronic Journal for English as a Second Language, 17 (3).

Young JW, Freeman D, Hauck MC, Garcia Gomez P, and Papageorgiou S (2014). A design framework for the ELTeach Program assessments (ELT Research Report No RR- 13–46). Princeton, NJ: Educational Testing Service.

Downloads

Published

2022-06-30

How to Cite

Adem, H., & Berkessa, M. (2022). EFL Teachers’ Cognitions about Teaching Speaking Skills . GIST – Education and Learning Research Journal, 24, 65–94. https://doi.org/10.26817/16925777.1308

Altmetric

Article metrics
Abstract views
Galley vies
PDF Views
HTML views
Other views