Exploring pre-service teachers' beliefs about teaching and learning grammar: Implications for teacher education

In this article, we argue that it is essential to acknowledge the beliefs with which pre-service teachers enter universities since their beliefs could shape how they teach in the future. In our qualitative study, underpinned by metacognitive and attribution theories, we consider English Education pre-service teachers' beliefs about learning and teaching grammar and the implications thereof for teacher education. The findings revealed that participants' beliefs were shaped by their experiences of the pedagogic practices in their schools. It became clear that the developers of teacher education programmes cannot assume pre-service teachers' competencies and should take cognisance of their backgrounds and levels of preparedness for university.