THE EFFECT OF STUDENTS’ PERCEPTIONS OF TEACHERS’ BELIEFS AND TEACHING STRATEGIES ON STUDENTS’ MOTIVATION AND ACHIEVEMENT IN ENGLISH

This study investigated the effect of university students’ perceptions of their teachers’ beliefs and teaching strategies in teaching a compulsory English course on students’ motivation and achievement. It employed an ex post facto design to identify a cause that facilitates changes in behavior after an event occurs. The respondents of this study were 12 lecturers and 150 students, who were randomly selected from a total of 20 lecturers and 1,615 students engaged in the teaching and learning of English at Universitas Negeri Padang, Indonesia. The instruments used in this study were documentation to elicit information about students’ achievement, and questionnaires to elicit information about teachers’ beliefs and their teaching strategies, students’ perceptions of the teachers’ beliefs and the teaching strategies, and students’ motivation. The data were analyzed through linear regression using SPSS 18.0. The results of the study revealed that (i) teachers highly believed in the choices they made for teaching the English course to all university students and in their strategies in teaching it, (ii) students held very positive perception of their teachers’ beliefs and teaching strategies, and (iii) teachers’ beliefs and teaching strategies have significant effects on the students’ motivation and achievement in learning English. These research results imply the importance of English teachers informing and discussing their beliefs and strategies for teaching the English course with students before commencing the teaching and learning process.