How Teachers’ Experiences Affect their Teaching and Testing of English Grammar in Zambia

Abstract

Teacher cognition has been a thriving area of research for decades now. In the study of teacher cognition, the experiences of teachers are very cardinal because they shape the teachers’ understanding and beliefs on given aspects in language teaching. The teaching of grammar is an area that has received much attention from second language acquisition and teaching researchers. However, the interpretation and application of grammar teaching and testing theories and methodologies is dependent on teachers’ understandings and beliefs as shaped by their experiences. Therefore, the objective of this study was to examine how the experiences of teachers affected the teachers’ understanding, teaching and testing of English grammar. The study sample consisted of six schools and from those schools 12 participants were drawn. The 12 participants included 2 teachers of English from each school. The research method used in this study was a qualitative descriptive research design. Data was gathered through semi-structured interviews and was thematically analyzed. The findings showed that the majority of the respondents learnt grammar explicitly from their past teachers. Their teachers used traditional methods to teach grammar and these are the methods the teachers used most of the time. Another influential aspect in shaping their grammar teaching cognitions was found to be tertiary education. The respondents stated that methodology courses widened their view of grammar and taught them the methods to use when teaching and testing grammar. The findings also show that the teachers have maintained the grammar assessment practices of their past teachers. Contextual factors also such as learner abilities and availability of materials affected how they taught and tested grammar.