Teachers' Knowledge of the Linguistic and Psychological Principles of Language in Teaching English at the Intermediate Level

Abstract

English language teachers’ knowledge of "what to teach" forms the core of the present research which aims to probe such knowledge, including that of language as a system, so as to be applied in everyday teaching. As such, this research further aims to validate the following hypotheses:- Iraqi teachers of English at the intermediate level are not familiar with the psychological and linguistic principles of language? - Iraqi teachers of English at the intermediate level are not familiar with the pedagogical implications of the linguistic and psychological principles of language. To bring about the aims and validate the hypotheses, a questionnaire (See Appendix) has been administered to (52) teachers of English at the intermediate level. Results show that almost all EFL teachers at the level in question are not familiar with the linguistic and psychological principles of language, and the implications of such principles for teaching English. The research ends with some concluding points and recommendations.