What writing teachers say and what they actually do: The mismatch between theory and practice

Abstract

Investigating the correspondece between beliefs and actual practices can help understand the nature of many success or failure stories in education. This study aimed at investigating the compatibility between what English language writing teachers theoretically assert and what they practically practice in teaching language. It also intended to find out factors that constrain the enactment of teachers’ stated beliefs in the actual classroom context. The participants in this study were six university teachers as well as 32 students from whom 1150 writing samples were obtained. Juxtaposing teachers’ actual classroom practices (obtained from university students’ write-ups) beside their theoretical beliefs, elicited through the use of a survey questionnaire, instances of mismatch were conspicuous. It was revealed that contextual factors, contrary to what teachers asserted, played no significant part in this incompatibility and other factors such as experience were at work. Further findings and implications are discussed in the paper.