Pre-service teachers' implicit and explicit beliefs about English language learners: An implicit association test study

Pre-service teachers' attitudes and beliefs about English Learners (ELs) are especially critical as they enter their professions among an increasingly diverse student population. This study uses an Implicit Association Test to explore implicit and explicit beliefs and attitudes of pre-service t...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:Teaching and teacher education 2018-05, Vol.72, p.54-63
Main Authors: Harrison, Jamie, Lakin, Joni
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Bias
English language learners
Implicit association test
School support
Teacher beliefs
Citations: Items that this one cites
Items that cite this one
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:Pre-service teachers' attitudes and beliefs about English Learners (ELs) are especially critical as they enter their professions among an increasingly diverse student population. This study uses an Implicit Association Test to explore implicit and explicit beliefs and attitudes of pre-service teachers about ELs. Pre-service teachers from a Southeastern U.S. university hold generally positive implicit beliefs about ELs and express positive expectations for working with ELs and school support. Implicit association test measures have potential as tools for preparing pre-service teachers and evaluating the impact of interventions that seek to improve teachers’ readiness to serve this population. •Preservice teacher participants hold slightly positive implicit beliefs about ELs.•There is a negative correlation between implicit and explicit beliefs about ELs.•More accurate language acquisition and pedagogical beliefs correlate.•Positive attitudes toward ELs correlate with perceived support and workload.•Perception of support correlates with language beliefs and perception of inclusion.
ISSN:0742-051X
1879-2480
DOI:10.1016/j.tate.2017.12.015