حسن سودمندافشار

Teachers’ beliefs are more important than their knowledge in determining how to describe tasks and problems. In fact, in comparison to knowledge, beliefs are stronger predictors of behavior Pajares (1992). However, in some occasions teachers do not act based on their beliefs. According to Borg (2003), although teachers’ beliefs do not always agree with their practices, their beliefs should be considered important because teachers’ beliefs affect directly their actual practices. Therefore, the present study investigated the difference between EFL teachers’ beliefs and their actual classroom practices. To this end, 210 Iranian EFL teachers (103 teachers from high schools and 107 from language institutes) participated in the study. The 45-item Likert-scale Beliefs About Language Learning Inventory (BALLI) developed originally by Horwitz, (1985) and validated by Kasraee Nezhad(2014) for the context of Iran and an observation checklist, devised by the researcher on a five-point Likert-scale and expert viewed, comprised the data collection instruments adopted in the current study. The results of matched t-test revealed statistically significant differences between beliefs of Iranian EFL teachers and their actual classroom practices. Moreover, the results of Independent Samples t-test indicated that the two groups of high school and language institute teachers were significantly different with regard to their beliefs on language learning. In addition, the results of Chi-square analysis demonstrated 43 out of 45 specific beliefs were significantly different from their actual classroom practices. In the light of the findings of the present study, educational policy makers and managers in both high schools and language institutes are recommended to introduce ways to raise teachers’ awareness of their beliefs to enhance their efficiency in their actual classroom practices.