The impact of study abroad experience on EFL teacher beliefs about foreign language learning and teaching

Teacher beliefs play a key role in shaping classroom practices and professional decision-making. While many studies have explored belief development, most focus on pre-service teachers. Less is known about how experienced EFL (English as a Foreign Language) teachers revise their beliefs through st...

Täydet tiedot

Bibliografiset tiedot
Päätekijä: WANG, XIAOYING
Muut tekijät: Kasvatustieteiden ja psykologian tiedekunta, Faculty of Education and Psychology, Kasvatustieteiden laitos, Department of Education, Jyväskylän yliopisto, University of Jyväskylä
Aineistotyyppi: Pro gradu
Kieli:eng
Julkaistu: 2025
Aiheet:
Linkit: https://jyx.jyu.fi/handle/123456789/102721
Kuvaus
Yhteenveto:Teacher beliefs play a key role in shaping classroom practices and professional decision-making. While many studies have explored belief development, most focus on pre-service teachers. Less is known about how experienced EFL (English as a Foreign Language) teachers revise their beliefs through study abroad, especially in general education programs not directly focused on language education. This study explores how such experiences influence the beliefs of experienced EFL teachers. The research was conducted with experienced EFL teachers enrolled in master’s-level general education programs in Finland. Data were gathered through semi-structured interviews. By employing thematic analysis, the study examined participants’ pre-existing beliefs, sources of influence on their beliefs and their respective belief change processes. The findings show that while participants entered the programs with established beliefs, study abroad experiences encouraged varied degree of change, such as confirmation, elaboration, modification, reversal, addition and no change. Sources of influence such as learning a new foreign language, engagement with academic coursework, and observation of Finnish education in practice contributed to shifts in how participants viewed foreign language teaching and learning. The implications are also discussed for teacher education and professional development for in-service teachers, and for researchers who are interested in how experienced or in-service teachers’ beliefs change.