| Description |
Teaching assistantships were originally based on an apprenticeship model, where teaching assistants (TAs) would work with a professor by performing tasks such as grading papers, leading discussion groups, or preparing class. However, in the field of second language education, more and more novice and inexperienced TA find themselves teaching and managing an entire course themselves due to increased demand of second language (L2) teachers at U.S. universities. This study reports on the results of teachers beliefs and practices of two distinct populations of L2 TAs: those who self-identify as TAs and plan on making language teaching part of their future career, and TAs who do not plan on teaching language as part of their future career. Previous research has shown that teaching beliefs have a significant impact on how teachers teach. Given the self-identification of students into groups, it is hypothesized that there will be differences between the teaching beliefs and practices between these two groups. Little research has looked specifically at these two populations. This study looked at the teaching beliefs and practices of these two populations through the use of a survey. A 4-point Likert scale survey with matched teaching belief and teacher practice statements was used to compare the self-reported beliefs and practices of the study populations. Classroom observations were conducted on two of the TAs. Following this, any observed inconsistencies between survey data and actual observation were addressed in an interview. iv Results of this study showed that there was no significant difference between the self-reported beliefs and practices of the two groups. However, the career group had higher rates of correlation than the noncareer group, indicating that the career group was developing and growing, while the noncareer group may not be. Classroom observations and interviews revealed that there were many inconsistencies between the self-reported beliefs and practices of TAs, and actual classroom practices, indicating that while the career group is questioning their teaching beliefs and practices more than the noncareer group, both groups are still novice teachers. |
