الملخص الإنجليزي
The present study aims at eliciting English as a foreign language (EFL) teachers' beliefs about classroom management in Omani classrooms. It also seeks to record these teachers' classroom management practices. The study also tests the influence of the background factors of sex, nationality, qualification and teaching experience on teachers' beliefs and practices.Two instruments were developed to attain these aims: an Observation Scheme to record teachers' classroom management practices and a Belief Elicitation Instrument to elicit teachers' beliefs about classroom management.The population of the study consisted of all preparatory English as a foreign language teachers in Omani government schools (1161 teachers). The sample comprised 140 teachers (about 12% of the population) and was drawn from all eleven educational regions in the Sultanate.Findings of the present study are divided into two sections. The first section covers the common beliefs teachers hold about classroom management. The second section presents teachers' classroom management practices.The study concluded that EFL teachers in Oman believed that the most common types of disruptive behavior were minor ones such as unsolicited talk. They also believed that they used more preventive intervention strategies than reactive/corrective strategies to control students' misbehavior. Concerning the role of Arabic in EFL classrooms, teachers believed that it played a minor role. They also believed that the use of additional material is important to make tasks worthwhile.As for teachers' classroom management practices, the study revealed that minor misbehavior such as unsolicited talk and unsolicited movement were the most frequently observed behaviors. These misbehaviors were controlled by both reactive/corrective and preventive intervention strategies. The study also found that EFL classrooms were dominantly managed in English and that Arabic played a peripheral role in these classrooms. Despite the use of some mechanical work, teachers tended to make these tasks worthwhile through the use of additional material and inferential questions.In the light of these findings the study presents some educational implications, implications for ESL/EFL education and suggestions for further research.
