Sources of t eachers‟ beliefs

language and culture. Meanwhile, socio-political issues concern with how certain language or social group is viewed by other social groups, access language and services, and a critical awareness of how language is used.” Graves, 2000:29. In other words, beliefs about social context of language enable the teachers to guide the learners how to use the language in this case, English wisely and appropriate to its context in the society. Connecting with the teaching and learning process, teachers‟ beliefs about the social context of language will influence the teachers‟ preferences in choosing lesson‟s topic and learning resources. The three areas of teachers‟ beliefs above are significant in determining teachers‟ practices in the real classroom. Each area must have the impacts to teachers in doing their professional life as teachers. Next, as previously explained, the other three areas of teachers‟ beliefs namely beliefs about English language, beliefs about learning, and beliefs about teaching will be discussed more deeply and detailed in the next three subsections below in order to give more understanding about the topic. 1 Beliefs about language First area of teachers ‟ beliefs is beliefs about language. The beliefs greatly affect the way the teachers consider what to teach and how to teach it Graves, 2000:28. Language has been defined in many ways. According to Bailey 1998 language is defined as “pronunciation, grammar, lexis, discourse in Graves, 2000:28. Meanwhile, language i s defined as “form, meaning and use” by Larsen- Freeman 1990 in Grave, 2000:28. The views about language influence the beliefs about how it should be learned. Taking for example, language can be viewed as rule governed so it should be learned through the grammatical rules or the language can be viewed as meaning-based so it should be learned through meaningful activities and so on. Similarly, Richards and Lockhart remarked that the teachers ‟ beliefs about English language in some extent provide contributions to what they are doing in the classroom 1996:33. In addition, Richards and Lockhart described the teachers‟ beliefs about English are greatly affected by their contacts with the language and its speakers. The contacts that the teachers have with the language and its speakers will influence their opinion about the significance of learning English, the important elements to be learnt, the characteristics of English language, and the importance of native-like pronunciation. All of the things above formulate the teachers‟ beliefs about English language which finally lead their beliefs in how to learn and how to teach it through the classroom practices. 2 Beliefs about learning When the teacher and the learner come to the classroom, they bring with them some experiences about learning. Those experiences lead them to have some degree of expectations about what to be learnt and how the process of learning should happen Richards Lockhart, 1996:34. These kinds of expectations then develop into beliefs about learning. In addition, Graves stated that teachers‟ beliefs in learning are reflected in the process, the roles of learners, and the focus of learning in their classrooms 2000:29. Related with the process, Stevick 1998 in Graves, 2000:30 stated his opinion like presented in the following quotation. “Learning can be considered as “a process of applying received knowledge deductive process, a process of making a new knowledge inductive process, a process involving mental activity cognitive process, a process involving emotional connection and risk taking affective process, or a process involving learning with others or social process”. Stevick, 1998 in Graves, 2000:30 Then, related with their roles, the learners can be the sources of knowledge or recipients of it and the decision- makers or subordinates” Graves, 2000:30. Meanwhile, related with the focus, the intention of learning can be to acquire new knowledge, to master skills, to develop awareness, or to learn about attitudes “Graves, 2000:30. Teachers‟ beliefs about learning can be derived from their education or training, their experiences in teaching, or their experiences as learners Freeman in Richards and Lockhart, 1996:34. The teachers and learners in the classroom may have different beliefs about learning. Those differences are potentially causes problems in the classroom. Therefore, it is important for the teachers to introduce their beliefs clearly before conducting their classroom practices. 3 Beliefs about teaching Every teacher as an individual has their own personal views about what is teaching and what kind of teaching is effective. Those personal views then are known as beliefs about teaching. All that the teachers do in the classroom or teachers‟ classroom practices are primarily the representations of their beliefs about teaching. According to Richards and Lockhart, teachers‟ beliefs about teaching could be s een through the teachers‟ role, implemented teaching method, and teaching resources being used in the classroom 1996:36. Similarly, Graves proposed that beliefs about teaching and teachers‟ role are closely related with beliefs about learning 2000:30. The beliefs about teaching and teachers‟ role in the teaching process are the result of the teachers‟ beliefs PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI