Springer Teaching Reading and Teacher Beliefs: A Sociocultural Perspective: 20 (English Language Education, 20)

This book explores language teacher beliefs in English as a Foreign Language (EFL) reading instruction in the context of Chinese university English instructors. Since the 1990s, there has been a renewed interest on teacher beliefs in the domain of language teacher cognition. However, most studies in this area aim at investigating the relationship between particular aspects of teacher beliefs and classroom practices, largely ignoring the complexity of teacher beliefs. This study explores the issue from an alternative perspective by conceptualizing teacher beliefs as a complex, dynamic and multi-faceted system. By adopting five rounds of interview and four classroom observations, the year-long study reveals seven key features of the belief system shared among six participants. It calls for the holistic, complex and insider view to examine teacher beliefs in relation to the sociocultural and historical contexts where the teachers work and live. Review "An inspiring journey into the complex world of EFL teachers’ beliefs." Michael K. Legutke, Justus Liebig University Giessen From the Back Cover This book explores language teacher beliefs in English as a Foreign Language (EFL) reading instruction in the context of Chinese university English instructors. Since the 1990s, there has been a renewed interest on teacher beliefs in the domain of language teacher cognition. However, most studies in this area aim at investigating the relationship between particular aspects of teacher beliefs and classroom practices, largely ignoring the complexity of teacher beliefs. This study explores the issue from an alternative perspective by conceptualizing teacher beliefs as a complex, dynamic and multi-faceted system. By adopting five rounds of interview and four classroom observations, the year-long study reveals seven key features of the belief system shared among six participants. It calls for the holistic, complex and insider view to examine teacher beliefs in relation to the sociocultural and historical contexts where the teachers work and live. "An inspiring journey into the complex world of EFL teachers’ beliefs." Michael K. Legutke, Justus Liebig University Giessen About the Author Dr. Xinyu Mo joined the Guangxi University of Science and Technology in 2019. He completed his PhD and Maters degrees at the Education University of Hong Kong and Guangxi Normal University respectively. His recent research includes studies of EFL teacher beliefs in the context of Chinese universities. As an EFL teacher working in mainland China for more than ten years, he took a keen interest on language teacher cognition research such as teacher beliefs, practical knowledge, identity and teacher professional development.