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G R O U N D I N G I N T H E T E A C H I N G A N D L E A R N I N G O F L 2 P R A G M A T I C S
Teacher beliefs and practice
In many cases teachers draw on their knowledge base in ways that influence
or determine their instructional, evaluative, and curricular decisions.
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For
example, how teachers view the nature of language or that of learning may
translate into how they believe language can best be learned. If a teacher
believes that there is a “correct” way to use language that everyone should
follow, she may rely only on a standard variety (and teach an expression, for
instance, Do you want to come with me? ) and focus on accurate production of
it by her students, rather than exposing them to local pragmatic variation
(such as an often-heard Midwestern variety, Do you wanna come with?). What
another teacher believes about how children and adults learn in general can
also affect the choice of his instructional strategies for young learners and
college students (e.g., using smiley face icons or narrative comments for giv-
ing feedback). If still another language teacher believes that students learn
language through repetition and memorization, she may select simple drills
of a request phrase, “Can you . . . ?” as her preferred activity for lower-level
learners to learn to make a request.
Teacher beliefs reflect their personal, cultural, educational, and political
values and are known to influence and be influenced by a range of experi-
ences in and outside of the classroom. Teachers’ investigation of these
sources of their own beliefs is likely to promote critical reflection of their
experiences, which can trigger a deeper understanding of their teaching. For
instance, in the above case of teaching the pragmatics of requests through
role-memorization, what is the basis of this particular belief ? Is it based 
on the instruction in some language textbook the teacher has been exposed
to, or is it perhaps traceable to her past language learning experience? If
another teacher believes that a feature film is a rich source of pragmatics
instruction, is it because he has read a paper written by a pragmatics expert
about its positive effects? Or is it because he learned a great deal of L2 prag-
matics through film himself ? Or if teacher learners read about the benefits
of computer-assisted language learning in their teacher preparation course,
does it tend to influence their method of teaching pragmatics?
Teacher beliefs and practices are not always consistent with each other
because they are most likely to be affected in complex ways by a combina-
tion of ( but not limited to) the following:
■
experiences as a ( language) learner in the classroom;
■
experiences outside the classroom;
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Graves (2000); Wright (2005).

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T E A C H E R S ’ P R A G M A T I C S : K N O W L E D G E , B E L I E F S , A N D P R A C T I C E
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■
established instructional practices in the educational community;
■
theories, approaches, methods, or techniques informed through teacher
preparation and other professional development opportunities;
■
personality factors (e.g., being extroverted or introverted); and
■
classroom teaching experiences.
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In other words, teaching practices are typically influenced by the teachers’
knowledge and beliefs in an intricate manner; this relationship may not be
a linear cause and effect, but a dialectic one.
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Even if teachers believe in X,
it does not simply follow that across the board they all do Y; what they do in
the classroom may be different precisely because other factors (such as those
noted above) may intervene. Classroom practice and teachers’ knowledge
construction are often constrained by the instructional context (e.g., the
available time and the number of students). Teachers’ knowledge, beliefs,
and practice are also affected by the larger context of curriculum, commu-
nity concerns, policies, and educational institutions.
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Classroom practice
may often be guided by teacher beliefs. At the same time, perhaps because
teachers see various situational factors as beyond their control, a mismatch
between a stated belief and actual practice has sometimes been found in
studies investigating this link.
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Because teachers’ knowledge and beliefs are linked to multiple layers of
their experiences in complex ways, we first encourage readers – and teacher
readers in particular – to better understand their own beliefs and practices
by asking why they decide to teach what they teach and why they teach it
the way that they do in the classroom. In order to make sense of their beliefs
and practices, the above lists of potential sources of teacher beliefs and prac-
tices may be useful in prompting thought about various factors associated
with teaching and learning.
To give an example, imagine that we have an EFL teacher who knows
that speakers vary in the way that they greet people in different English-
speaking countries, or even within the same culture, depending on who the
conversational partner is and what the occasions are. Let us say, however,
that she teaches her beginning-level students only one formal greeting 
routine that appears in the EFL textbook. Here, we see a gap between her
knowledge and practice. Does she teach that way because it is an established
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Borg (2003); Calderhead (1996); Pajares (1992); Richards and Lockhart (1996).
11
Thompson (1992).
12
Richards and Lockhart (1996); Shulman and Shulman (2004).
13
Borg (2006).

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