The Interplay between EFL High School Teachers' Beliefs and Their Instructional Practices Regarding Reading Strategies

Previous research has revealed the influential role of teachers’ beliefs in determining their professional behavior; that is, the ways they plan their lessons, the kinds of decision they make, and the methods they apply in their classrooms. The present study aimed, first, to investigate the construct of teachers’ belief systems about reading strategies among EFL high school teachers, then to explore the degree of discrepancies or consistencies between teachers’ beliefs about reading strategies and their practical teaching activities in the context of English teaching as a foreign language in high schools of Iran, Mazandaran. Based on questionnaire data from 57 teachers, teachers’ beliefs and their self-reported classroom employment of reading strategies were explored. Findings indicated that teachers believe that reading strategies play an important role in reading comprehension and that it is necessary to teach reading strategies in reading classes. The results also revealed that there is inconsistency between teachers' beliefs and their self reported classroom practice.