Pre- and In-service Teachers’ Beliefs about ELLs in Content Area Classes: A Case for Inclusion, Responsibility, and Instructional Support

Source: Teaching Education, Volume 24, Issue 1, 2013 , pages 58-83

The current study documents differences between pre- and in-service content area teachers’ beliefs about: whether English language learners (ELLs) should be included in content area classes, the kind of instructional support (IS) they should receive, and responsibility for ELLs’ language and academic achievement.

The participants were 94 in-service and 101 pre-service content area teachers.

Several significant differences were found in pre- and in-service and female and male teachers’ beliefs about responsibility for ELLs’ language and academic development.
However, both service and gender groups appeared to hold similar beliefs about ELLs’ inclusion in mainstream classes.

Results also revealed that some beliefs held by female teachers about IS for ELLs significantly differed from those of males’; however, the effects of service and gender on certain beliefs may be contingent upon a number of background factors.