The Relationship between Iranian EFL Institutes Teachers’ Beliefs and Their Instructional Practices regarding Writing Strategies

Abstract

Understanding the L2 teachers' attitudes and beliefs toward writing practices, on the one hand, and applying those beliefs in actual teaching activities, on the other hand, can uncover the real reasons of Iranian language learners' difficulty in dealing with writing skill and tasks. The present study was an attempt, first, to examine and investigate the construct of teachers' belief systems about writing strategies among EFL institute teachers, then to investigate and explore the extent of discrepancies or consistencies between teachers' beliefs about writing strategies and their practical teaching activities in the context of English teaching as a foreign language in different institutes of Najaf Abad, Tiran and Goldasht in Iran. To these ends, 60 EFL institute teachers teaching at different language institutes in Najaf Abad, Tiran and Goldasht participated in this research. The teachers were both male and female with teaching experience ranging from 5 to 25 years. Using a validated researcher- made questionnaire, the obtained data revealed that most Iranian teachers had positive beliefs and attitudes toward most of the mentioned English writing strategies in the research questionnaire. Also, Iranian teachers considered the compensational and social aspects of writing strategies more significant than the other aspects in their actual class practices. However, Conversely, they did not pay attention to the implementation of Meta cognitive, cognitive and affective writing strategies which are very essential in facilitating the task of writing for the language learners. The findings of the study will contribute to L2 both teachers and learners. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]