This study aims at (1) Investigating teachers’ beliefs on English curriculum 2013. (2) Investigating the factors which shape teachers’ beliefs. (3) Investigating the classroom practices. (4) Investigating the discrepancy between teachers’ beliefs and classroom practices. (5) Investigating the factors which contribute the discrepancy between teachers’ beliefs and classroom practices.
The result of teachers’ beliefs on English curriculum 2013 reveals that in the classroom teachers’ mostly believe themselves as learning facilitator. To specify the broad term of learning facilitator, the researcher dig out more information and find out another role of English language teachers in the classroom practices, namely teachers as a motivator, teachers as a role model, teachers as an informant or source, teachers as an organizator, teachers as classroom supporter, and teachers as an evaluator. While the role of the students in the classroom practices, students have to actively ask some questions and give feedback, actively working the task, eager to know and dig out more information from the other resources, actively propose their own idea towards the assigned concept. The classroom procedure conducted by the teachers in classroom practices including five essential points, namely Observing, questioning, gathering information or experimenting, associating or information processing, and communicating. The techniques used by the teachers are adapted from Traditional Method (Direct Method), Communicative Approach (Communicative Language Learning, Genre Based Instruction) and Scientific Approach (Inquiry Based Learning, Task Based Learning).
The factors which shape teachers’ beliefs are adapted from three essential points, teachers’ experience in English language teaching, workshop or training, and experience as a language learner. The discrepancy between teachers’ beliefs and classroom practices rely much on teachers as a learning facilitator. Teachers mostly serve as learning director, learning guide and learning assistant in the classroom practices. And students as an active learner contradict with the practicality. Students tend to be flaccid thinker and knowledge receiver rather than active thinker and knowledge explorer. The discrepancy between teachers’ beliefs and classroom practices are caused by three factors, socio-cultural perspective, teachers perspective which explicitly denotes that scientific approach cannot be implemented in English language teaching and learning and school facilities to support the implementation of curriculum 2013.
This study is expected to give better understanding on English curriculum 2013 and the implementation in classroom practices for English language teachers and teacher researchers as well as to fulfill the gap between the recent study and the previous studies which do not explicitly investigate the beliefs and the curriculum.