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Cited by 2,543EFL/ESL Teaching and LearningTeacher Education and Leadership StudiesSecond Language Learning and Teaching

Teacher cognition in language teaching: A review of research on what language teachers think, know, believe, and do

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Borg, Simon·2003·Language Teaching
DOI 10.1017/s0261444803001903
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Abstract

This paper reviews a selection of research from the field of foreign and second language teaching into what is referred to here as teacher cognition – what teachers think, know, and believe and the relationships of these mental constructs to what teachers do in the language teaching classroom. Within a framework suggested by more general mainstream educational research on teacher cognition, language teacher cognition is here discussed with reference to three main themes: (1) cognition and prior language learning experience, (2) cognition and teacher education, and (3) cognition and classroom practice. In addition, the findings of studies into two specific curricular areas in language teaching which have been examined by teacher cognition – grammar teaching and literacy – are discussed. This review indicates that, while the study of teacher cognition has established itself on the research agenda in the field of language teaching and provided valuable insight into the mental lives of language teachers, a clear sense of unity is lacking in the work and there are several major issues in language teaching which have yet to be explored from the perspective of teacher cognition.

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  • Training novice teachers or persuading experienced teachers to use a pre-ordained set of instructional strategies is a recipe for failure if the strategies do not align with teachers' underlying beliefs and values.

    “It is recognized that training novice teachers or persuading experienced teachers to use a pre-ordained set of instructional strategies is a recipe for failure if the strategies do not align with teachers' underlying beliefs and values (Borg 2003; Kubanyiova 2012).”

    From The motivational dimension of language teaching (2017) · cites this paper as Borg 2003

    The Introduction (page unavailable) says teacher-education programmes that ignore trainees’ prior beliefs may be less effective, and the teacher-education section reports that trainees’ prior cognitions shaped their acceptance of a taught method. This supports the concern about imposing strategies on novice teachers, but the categorical “recipe for failure” and its extension to persuading experienced teachers go beyond what these passages establish. (LLM, conf=0.86)

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Authors
Borg, S.
Affiliations
University of Leeds (GB)
Corresponding author
Borg, Simon
ORCID
Borg, Simon
Venue
Language Teaching
Publisher
Cambridge University Press (CUP)
Published
2003-04
Volume
36
Issue
2
Pages
81-109
ISSN
  • 0261-4448 (ISSN-L)
  • 1475-3049
DOI
10.1017/s0261444803001903
OpenAlex
W2168447582
Cited by
2,543
References
1
Citations by year
2026: 155 · 2025: 127 · 2024: 125 · 2023: 208 · 2022: 222 · 2021: 221 · 2020: 170 · 2019: 193 · 2018: 158 · 2017: 153 · 2016: 124 · 2015: 129 · 2014: 137 · 2013: 101 · 2012: 90
FWCI
90.77
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Licence
www.cambridge.org/core/terms (unspecified, 49 d)
Locations
  • Language Teaching (publishedVersion)
  • White Rose Research Online (University of Leeds, The University of Sheffield, University of York) (acceptedVersion)
Topics
  • Social Sciences › Arts and Humanities › Language and Linguistics › EFL/ESL Teaching and Learning
  • Social Sciences › Education › Teacher Education and Leadership Studies
  • Social Sciences › Arts and Humanities › Literature and Literary Theory › Second Language Learning and Teaching
Keywords
teacher cognition, language teachers, teacher beliefs, teacher professional development, teaching practice, grammar instruction, foreign language teaching, second language teaching

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