Reflection on Language Teaching Practice in Polytechnic: Identifying Sources of Teachers’ Beliefs

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 Procedia - Social and Behavioral Sciences 90 ( 2013 ) 813 – 822 
1877-0428 © 2013 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd.
Selection and/or peer-review under responsibility of the Faculty of Education, University Technology MARA, Malaysia.
doi: 10.1016/j.sbspro.2013.07.156 
ScienceDirect
6
th
International Conference on University Learning and Teaching (InCULT 2012)
Reflection on language teaching practice in polytechnic:
Identifying sources of teachers’ beliefs
Suhaily Abdullah
a
*, Faizah Abd Majid
b
d
a
Faculty
a
of Education, Universiti Teknologi MARA Shah Alam, 40200 Selangor, Malaysia
Abstract
This study was conducted in order to identify the sources of teachers’ beliefs and how these influenced the English teaching 
practice in a 
polytechnic’s context. From interview transcriptions, reflective journal entries and non
-participatory observation 
field notes, the respondents in the case study exhibited their classroom practices and consistently enlightened this in relation 
to thei
r sources of teachers’ beliefs that outlined 
their practice. There are four potential sources identified, namely experience
as a learner, perception towards students, institutional environment or practice, and personal views on current practice. Closer 
examination of the whole group data obtained show that perception towards students is the dominant factor which shapes the
respondents
’
practices; approaches considered are
based on the students’ i
mmediate responses and lecturers
’
roles are leaned 
to active teaching and learner-focused classroom. These findings provide preliminary ideas related to teachers
’
beliefs
ff of
polytechnic English lecturers
in Malaysia’s context
.
© 2012 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd.
Selection and/or peer-review under responsibility of the Faculty of Education, University of Technology MARA, Malaysia.
Keywords
: Language teaching, English lecture
r, teachers’ beliefs, polytechnic