ABSTRACT
This chapter will begin by outlining a framework for teacher cognition before reviewing evidence on the relationship between teachers’ beliefs, knowledge, and practices, critically examining factors that act to enable or constrain coherence between these three. Framed by this discussion, the chapter will go on to explore qualitative data from the SCOLAR study, gathered through SRIs with teachers and exploring their cognitions related to motivational language teaching. Also drawing on observation data, it will explore the relationships between beliefs and practices as follows: (1) language teachers’ understanding of language learning motivation and motivational teaching; (2) their attribution of responsibility for language learning motivation; and (3) the nexus between their cognitions and practices. The relationships between beliefs and practices will also be interpreted with reference to mediating factors at different levels, such as those pertaining to the teacher (e.g., prior training) and those associated with the classroom environment, the school environment (e.g., medium of instruction), and the sociocultural environment. In this way, the chapter will illustrate the complex interplay between teacher cognition and practices as mediated by contextual conditions.
