Beliefs of Japanese teachers of English regarding language, language teaching, and language learning

要旨

The purpose of this study was to explore English teachers' beliefs about language, language teaching, and language learning to answer the research question: What beliefs have been formed through teaching experience? A 28-item questionnaire was administered to 69 junior high school teachers of English in Japan and 69 Japanese-speaking university students. Results showed that the teachers think (a) that grammatical knowledge is not sufficient for communication, (b) that, in reading or writing instruction, Japanese need not be relied on, (c) that, in listening, students do not have to understand every word, and (d) that basically, progress is made in foreign language learning through mimicking. A comparison of teachers with university students further indicated that several beliefs may have evolved out of teaching experience.