1. Introduction

This chapter introduces the importance of English language teachers in driving educational innovation, highlighting the lack of change in traditional teaching methods in EFL instructional contexts. It also emphasizes the need to empower teachers and promote innovative teaching, and outlines the purpose of the present study to explore teachers' belief change and behavior after participating in a program designed to support innovative teaching.

2. Literature Review

This chapter introduces innovation in EFL contexts and the importance of creating L2 interactional opportunities for learners to use the target language for communication. It also discusses the setbacks encountered in innovation attempts in many EFL contexts due to top-down policies of curriculum innovation lacking bottom-up initiatives and adoption. The chapter further explores the concept of language teaching beliefs, their stability, and factors contributing to their development. It also presents a sociocultural perspective on teacher learning, emphasizing Vygotsky's sociocultural theory and mediation for teachers, and the process of concept development.

3. Methodology

The chapter describes the participants, teaching practices used in the study, and the course format. It also details the data collection methods, including teacher beliefs, reflection reports, interviews, and observational notes. The data were analyzed using content analysis, and a second researcher was invited to ensure consistency in coding.

4. Results

The chapter presents the results of the analysis of written reports, interview accounts, and the teacher educator’s notes which explore how teachers conceptualized the teaching promoted in the practice teaching course. It discusses changes in beliefs and concept development, with examples from Kiki, Hanna, and Annie, illustrating how their beliefs transformed and how they grew in the context of the teacher-educator’s course design. The teachers’ conceptualization process is also examined, with some reaching the conceptual stage and others remaining at the pseudo-conceptual stage, as illustrated by the experiences of Maggie, Caroline, Joy, and May.

5. Discussion and Implications

The results of the study show changes in the teachers’ teaching beliefs and their development of expertise in terms of teaching innovatively. The course, which emphasized teachers’ thinking and teaching behavior in regard to the concepts of meaning negotiation, interaction, and learner-centeredness, mediated their conceptualization of teaching innovatively and entailed changes in their beliefs. The findings indicate the importance of sustaining teachers’ efforts to innovate and to create opportunities for using the target language. The systems in support of reform and improvement are not limited to administration but encompass teachers, their colleagues, and even parents, and, thus, create a school culture that supports and sustains innovative efforts. The study also suggests that there is a need to strengthen teacher cognition through "praxis," that is, the integrated theoretical and practical levels as reinforced in this study. The findings of this study indicate the importance of sustaining teachers’ efforts to innovate and to create opportunities for using the target language.

6. Conclusion

The chapter concludes that the study focused on understanding the development of teaching beliefs among L2 teachers, noting changes in beliefs and expertise. The results have implications for teacher education in TEFL and foreign language teaching, emphasizing the need to strengthen teacher cognition, externalize beliefs about teaching, and sustain efforts to innovate and create opportunities for using the target language.