Exploring the gap between teachers' and learners' beliefs about ‘useful’ activities for EFL

Do learner beliefs match teacher beliefs concerning which activities are useful for EFL? Several studies in recent years have tried to answer this question: almost all have reported that learners favour ‘traditional’, and teachers ‘communicative’, activities. However, few studies have tried to answer the important questions of why the differences occur, whether they affect learning, and how they can be eliminated. The aim of the present study was to try to answer these questions. Data were collected by questionnaire and interview from 158 EFL students and 30 EFL teachers in a Hong Kong university. A considerable mismatch between learner and teacher beliefs was found – in particular, learners rated error correction and grammar exercises much higher, and pair work and group work much lower, than did the teachers. Conclusions were that this wide gap almost certainly had a negative effect on learners' linguistic progress, satisfaction with the class, and confidence in their teachers, and that similar differences probably occur in many other contexts and classrooms. It is proposed that teachers at least consider giving learners more autonomy in choosing activities, and also make clear to learners the rationale behind unpopular activities – particularly group work and pair work.