Teachers' Cognition and Implementations of Inductive Grammar Teaching in Oman

Abstract

Aim: To examine teachers' cognitions and implementations of inductive grammar teaching in Oman. Study Design: This was a qualitative case study. Place and Duration of Study: A 3-month study was conducted at Masoud Bin Ramadan school in Suhar, Oman at the Basic Education level for the academic year 2018. Methodology: The sample consisted of three male teachers who have been selected on the basis of their experience teaching post-basic learners, to ensure that the collected data is valuable to reach the aim and objectives of the study. The data is collected through classroom observations and teacher interviews. Content analysis is implemented to analyse data of classroom observations. Constructivist grounded theory is adopted to analyse teacher interviews. Results: The findings reveal that the majority of teachers tend to teach grammar in a traditional deductive teaching method. The findings also demonstrate that teachers' understandings of inductive grammar teaching are limited. The teachers develop negative beliefs about inductive grammar teaching due to lack of understanding and training. Finally, it is theorised that teachers' limited implementations of inductive grammar teaching is due to their lack of understanding, lack of training, and negative beliefs about inductive grammar teaching. Conclusion: Teachers should teach grammar in a more inductive way, as advised by the curriculum. The teachers should also receive more professional training in grammar teaching to increase their awareness of grammar teaching methodologies in general, and, in particular, the one adopted by the curriculum.