Comparing Teacher Cognition for L2 Grammar in a Thai Tertiary Context Focusing on a Single Eastern Province in Thailand

Abstract

          Drawing upon theories and frameworks established by Teacher Cognition, this study investigate the role of teacher cognition in the Thai tertiary context as it implies to university English as a foreign language (EFL) lecturers. The study aimed to answer the questions about: level of education, gender, and Native English speaker (NES) to Non-Native English speaker (NNES). This study employed a mixed method approach. The questionnaire was analyzed quantitatively and a lesson plan artifact was analyzed qualitatively via iterative thematic analysis This study used a questionnaire and lesson plans to collect the basic information from the 37 participants in three universities all located in a single province in Eastern Thailand. The study divided grammar into five components: Meaning of grammar, Importance of grammar, Approach to teaching grammar, Feedback and error correction and Teaching practices and activities. The results of the study indicated that level of education and gender had no significant difference in any of the categories of grammar. When comparing Thai and NES significant difference was found in one of the categories of grammar (approach to teaching grammar). The lesson plans were analyzed using iterative thematic analysis and looked at where grammar was taught in the lesson and if the activities were teacher or student led. When comparing teacher by highest degree earned The Master degree group taught grammar in more instance than the Bachelor degree group. Gender did not yield any significant differences. Again comparing Thai teacher and NES the results indicated that Thai teacher taught grammar in more spots of the lesson plan than the NES and the Thai teachers also favored teachers led activities more so then the NES.