Relationships Among Knowledge, Beliefs, and Attitudes Regarding Second Language Acquisition and English Language Learners

• In Event: 49.088 - Roundtable Session 17
  In Roundtable Session: 49.088-12 - Preservice Teacher Awareness and Attitudes of English Language Learners

Abstract

This quantitative study aimed to investigate pre-service science teachers’ (PSTs) prior knowledge, attitudes, and beliefs about SLA and ELLs and determine whether PSTs’ knowledge was significantly related to their beliefs and attitudes regarding SLA and ELLs. The participants of this study consisted of a total of 36 PSTs. They completed the survey (Garcia, 2010) at the beginning of a Teaching English as a Second Language course. Data were analyzed via using descriptive statistics and Kendall’s tau-b. Findings indicated that the PSTs started the course with slightly positive attitudes, moderate knowledge, and slightly neutral beliefs about SLA and ELLs. Moreover, they showed significant positive relationships among the PSTs’ knowledge, beliefs, and attitudes regarding SLA and ELLs.

Authors

• Elif Adibelli Sahin, TED University

• Refika Turgut, University of South Carolina - Upstate