‘A different color on an artistic palette’: teaching styles and beliefs

This descriptive study attempted to explore teaching styles by eliciting beliefs of a group of English language teachers through Peacock’s (Int J Appl Linguist 11:1–20, 2001) Perceptual Teaching Style Preference Questionnaire and interviews based on Reid’s hypotheses (TESOL Q 21:87–111, 1987; Learning styles in the ESL/EFL classroom. Boston: Heinle & Heinle, 1995) on learning styles and Doyle and Rutherford’s (Theory Pract 23:20–25, 1984) suggestions on matched instructional designs. The mixed methods research design was adopted in the current study, and concurrent triangulation was used to corroborate the findings. Study findings indicated that the participants reportedly applied the group teaching style more frequently than the other styles and favored a repertoire of the visual and auditory perceptual teaching styles. Although participants were mostly positive about the importance of learning styles, effects of perceptual teaching styles on learning, and the matched instructional design, they did not believe that their students were aware of their own learning styles and noted various curricular and administrative constraints in relation to implementation of the matched instruction. Consequently, the current study suggested that the language teachers and their line managers should consider effective planning and implementation of the entire teaching operation in relation to the matched instructional design in their classrooms. Also, it is recommended that as part of their professional development, the classroom practitioners are encouraged to explore their students’ “voices” and raise their learners’ awareness regarding their learning styles for more effective teaching–learning processes.


Introduction
Teachers have an important impact on students' learning and achievement [1,2,40,50,58,59,64]. Teachers' educational philosophy lending purpose to their practice is essential in this regard [22] since it affects selection of teaching content, design of lesson plans, interaction with students as well as assessment of student performance [23]. Specifically, teaching style has been considered a critical component in determining the extent of students' learning [59] because teachers provide the "vital human connection between the content and the environment and the learners" ( [29], p. 109). Similarly, teaching styles of instructors working in higher education contexts are considered to be important since they have a profound influence on student engagement in learning, academic success and learners' perceptions of themselves [24]. To elaborate on teacher practice and beliefs, Zhang [66] states that each teacher has a specific teaching style which 1 3 styles comprising 'expert' , 'personal' , 'formal authority' , 'facilitator' , and 'delegator' models. However, subsequently Grasha cautioned that "Each style is not a box into which faculty members fit; rather, all of the dimensions shown are present in varying degrees within the attitudes and behaviors of teachers" ( [26], p. 140). In addition, by analogy with Reid's ( [48], p. viii) categorization of learning styles into six perceptual types, Peacock [46] employed categorization of teaching styles into visual, auditory, kinesthetic, tactile, group preference, and individual perceptual styles.
Teachers are usually aware that learners differ in the way they approach the learning process and deal with various learning activities. They need to use various teaching styles to handle potential learning difficulties in the classroom, and help students develop their own learning strategies and use these effectively and efficiently [11]. In a similar vein, for the second language learning context, it was noted that teachers should be aware of their students' needs and preferences in order to be able to help them with their learning [12,23,51]. Chaudron [12] elaborated on this view by saying that in language learning "teachers need to anticipate learners' needs for additional assistance in understanding both the instructional processes and the linguistic medium that conveys them" (p. 8). Therefore, teachers are supposed to meet their learners' needs and make modifications in their classes bearing on the quality of the language environment, and also establishing a good rapport with their learners. Researchers also contended that catering to learners' learning styles requires modification of teaching styles and employment of a wide pedagogic repertoire [4,9,23]. Importantly, as hypothesized by Reid [47,48], a mismatch between teaching and learning styles can potentially cause learners' frustration, demotivation, and even failure. To this end, matching learning and teaching styles is suggested as one of the possible remedies by researchers who have through their studies revealed that matched styles had positive effects on learners' affective variables as well as learning progress [20,23,31,33,35,42,43,53,56,59]. Based on their study results, these researchers reported that matched teaching and learning styles can provide learners with self-awareness and equal opportunities in the language classroom [23,49].
To exemplify, Doyle and Rutherford [17] proposed two instructional approaches for matching learning and teaching styles. First, they argued that "if specific intellectual and emotional aptitudes are applied to instructional programs, it would have positive effect on learners' achievement compared to standard teaching situations". Second, "matching aptitudes of students with dimensions of teaching in forming groups would be a useful educational justification while dealing with diversity among students" (p. 20). Further, such factors as teaching effects on learning, classroom management, as well as effects of styles in the classroom need to be considered in terms of matched styles. Classroom practitioners were cautioned in this regard as there is a need for further research to confidently argue that style match is preferred by students and that it fosters learning [17,44,67]. Furthermore, due to the continuing concerns over the impact of 'style match' on student learning [4,67], instead of one to one 'style match' , a balanced teaching style catering to all learners' learning styles, and a combination of a variety of sensory techniques have been proposed in certain contexts [20,23,35].
In a similar vein, Zhenhui [68] identified several categories in relation to matched styles: diagnosing learning styles and developing self-aware language learners, altering teaching styles to create teacher-student style matching; encouraging changes in students' behavior and fostering guided style-stretching; and providing activities with different groupings. Recently, Ellis ([18], p. 311) has made two suggestions on appropriate matching between learners' and teachers' styles for effective instruction, specifically "to adapt the instruction to the learner" or "finding ways of adapting the learner to the instruction". As regards the former suggestion, it is difficult to match instruction with all learner groups [23] since learning and teaching involve a dynamic and experiential process. Importantly, teachers need to gain awareness of various individual differences of their learners through instructional activities and observations, which was also advocated by other scholars [27,28,30,55].
Regarding the latter suggestion, recent research studies have reported that it is possible through learner training [23,51] which may involve modifying belief systems of learners such as assisting them to become aware that learning may occur incidentally via task-based instruction. Traditional forms of instruction or strategy training via identifying these strategies can also be used intentionally in order to promote language learning success. Thus, complexity of teaching stems from not only the need to modify instruction according to different learning styles [58] but also the skill of applying a balanced teaching style effectively and efficiently [23,40,66].
Focus on language learners' styles as well as needs and goals has been one of the premises of learner-centered teaching which requires application of techniques giving some control to learners. To be able to do this, teachers should be aware of the learning styles of their students and also try to help them to become aware of their own styles [7,23]. To this end, use of group work is advised as it offers an embracing affective climate and may generate interactive language, learner responsibility and autonomy. Therefore, it can be an appropriate step toward individualizing instruction ( [7], p. 177-179). The role of social interaction in learning was highlighted by Vygotsky's socio-cultural theory [61,62], and Lantolf and Thorne [38] argued that "language use, organization, and structure are the primary means of mediation" (p. 197). Within the same tradition, a coherent framework was developed for theorizing mediation based in and coming from "the experiences of others in the present (social), the experiences of others from the past (culture), and the immediate experiences of the individual with these others and with the artifacts they constructed" ( [37], p. 104).
Various scholars noted the importance of culture in relation to styles in second or foreign language teaching. Specifically, Brown [7] emphasized the significance of culture of the instructional setting as well as culture of learners in developing styles (p. 201). More recently, Summers and Lovorn [54] contended that.
As our world continues a growing enrichment through economic, cultural, and educational interdependence, researchers continue to realize that teachers in international learning environments should encourage and enable the development of critical understandings of the intersection of language and culture in their classrooms (p. 11).
Listing several cultural expectations of roles and styles of the language teacher and learner, researchers have emphasized the importance of balancing both styles, as well as sensitivity to others' perceptions and establishing a good rapport with learners and colleagues coming from different traditions [4,7,23]. Importantly, Brown [7] stressed that the roles and styles of teachers in the classroom are crucial to creating a positive, stimulating, and energizing classroom atmosphere. In addition, "the good teacher" [52] is supposed to take into account that learners' cultures influence their attitude and styles in the language classroom. In this regard, the following valuable recommendation has been made to the teaching profession: As you grow more comfortable with your teaching roles in the classroom, make sure your style of teaching is also consistent with the rest of you and with the way you feel you can be most genuine in the classroom; then, learn how to capitalize on the strengths of your teaching style ( [7], p. 201).
In a similar vein, Fahim and Zargaran [19] stated that over a teacher's lifetime teaching styles can change radically depending on the teacher's interactions and the teaching context. A limited number of studies exploring teaching styles in ESL/EFL contexts contributed to the scarcity of research on EFL/ESL teachers' teaching styles. It is noteworthy that the research to date on perceptual teaching styles in ESL/EFL contexts is still scarce. In the Hong Kong context, Peacock [46] investigated perceptual styles of EFL students and teachers and demonstrated that both favored the kinesthetic and auditory perceptual styles, but did not prefer the individual style. Moreover, the language teachers favored the group style, but did not prefer the tactile style.
In the Iranian context, Taase et al. [55] investigated the relationship between EFL teachers' and students' multiple intelligences and teaching styles and reported that there was a preference for the use of a variety of styles instead of a particular style by both teachers and students. In this study, a significant relationship was found between EFL teachers' teaching styles and multiple intelligences, however, no significant relationship was found between age, gender or field of study and teaching styles. Another study involving experienced English teachers at some language schools in Tehran found "a significant relationship between teachers' expert, personal model, and delegator styles and curriculum autonomy" ( [4], p. 34) whereas no significant relationship could be discovered between teaching experience and gender and teaching styles [3].
Owing to the scarcity of the research to date in EFL/ESL contexts, there is a serious need for more research on teaching styles [3,4,23,46]. Only through further research, it will be possible to "broaden the scope of research on EFL teacher education" ( [4], p. 45) or "reach congruent conclusions" regarding teaching styles ( [3], p. 988). As in the context of the present study, an English-medium university in Northern Cyprus, perceptual styles of classroom practitioners have not been explored either, the present descriptive study aimed to explore English language teachers' perceptual teaching styles and their related beliefs. Therefore, by exploring EFL teachers' teaching styles and beliefs in the research context, the present study intended to fill a research gap not only at a macro level given the scarcity of research on teaching styles on a wider scale but also at a micro level by focusing on the EFL teachers' teaching styles and beliefs within the specific research context.
For research purposes, the study adopted Peacock's definition of teaching style as "natural, habitual, and preferred way(s) of teaching new information and skills in the classroom" ( [46], p. 7) and employed his Perceptual Teaching Style Preference Questionnaire (PTSPQ). However, our study was not a follow-up study in that it focused only on the language teachers' "voices. " In addition to the questionnaire administration, it included interviews with teachers. The study addressed the following research questions: 1 3 2. What are the language teachers' beliefs about teaching styles, learning styles, and matched styles?

Method
This research investigated perceptual teaching styles as well as related beliefs of a group of English language teachers at the tertiary level in Northern Cyprus. It was designed as a descriptive study concerned with and designed only to describe "group characteristics or behaviors" ( [8], p. 288), without regard to causal or other hypotheses. The mixed methods research design was adopted, and concurrent triangulation was used in the study. The study was conducted at a School of Languages which is an accredited training center for Cambridge ESOL, and an accredited examination center for the internet-based Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL iBT), Test of Business Language Testing Service (BULATS), London Chamber of Commerce and Industry Qualifications (LCCI) and Test of Legal English Skills (TOLES). The school has been providing language services to the university and community for over 30 years, specifically a full range of English and other language courses to foundation, undergraduate and postgraduate students, and for community programs.

Participants
The present study involved 24 female and 6 male volunteer English language teachers; their age ranged between 36 and 56 years. The teaching experience of the participants varied between 13 and 24 years, and their educational background ranged from BA to Ph.D. levels. Twenty seven (27) teachers indicated Turkish as their first language, and three participants stated English as their mother tongue. Of the 30 participants 10 volunteered to also take part in interviews. The participant group in this study can be considered representative of the teaching staff of the language institution in terms of gender (female/male ratio) and the average teaching experience (over 10 years) as well as L1 background (Turkish). In accordance with the research ethics, all participants granted their written consent to participate in this study.
Subsequently, a semi-structured interview based on a guide comprising questions related to teaching styles, learning styles and style matching [17] was conducted to elicit the participants' insights to the "the reality of teaching" ([57], p. 9) in the context of the study. The interview guide (see Appendix 2) was intended to ensure that "the same basic line of inquiry is pursued with each person interviewed" as well as to provide subject areas or topics "within which the interviewer is free to explore, probe, and ask questions that will elucidate and illuminate that particular subject" ( [45], p. 343). Thus, the guide helped the researcher to ensure the consistency and comprehensibility of the interview sessions.

Data collection procedure
Initially, one of the researchers contacted the administration of the Language School for permission to conduct the research, and she was referred to one of the coordinators. The researcher and the coordinator agreed on a schedule both for the questionnaire administration as well as conducting interviews at everyone's convenience. The questionnaires, together with the consent forms, were given to the coordinator who distributed them to the teacher participants.
Thirty language instructors completed the questionnaire and submitted these to the coordinator who returned them to the researcher. Further, the interviews with 10 volunteer language teachers were conducted by the researcher in three different sessions, with three participants, individually, and four and three participants, as a group, respectively, in their offices. This arrangement was made at the participants' request. Since all the interviewees had known each other, personally and professionally, for quite a while and had a good rapport with each other, some teachers chose to be interviewed as a group.

Data analysis procedures
All the participants, as required by the research ethics, were assigned codes. The quantitative questionnaire data were analyzed through the application of Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) for Windows, version 22.0, in order to obtain descriptive statistics (mean, frequencies, and standard deviations) related to the instructors' preferences and beliefs about their perceptual teaching styles, their learners' preferences, and hypotheses on learning styles. The qualitative interview data were content analyzed in order to examine the saliency (positive or negative) of the interviewees' reported beliefs about teaching styles, learning styles, as well as the matched instructional design.

Results and discussion
One of the major findings of our study was the positive questionnaire and interview reports related to the group preference perceptual teaching style, interactive teaching and classroom discussion. The analysis of the English language teachers' questionnaire responses revealed that 22 instructors (73%) favored the group preference style (overall M = 3.65) over the other styles. For example, they indicated preferences for such related activities as assigning work with others for learning (M = 4.10, item 5) and assigning work with peers (M = 4.03, item 3; see Appendix 1, Part II). Table 1 demonstrates the overall mean, standard deviation and the Cronbach's Alpha of the pertinent data, which suggest that the participants' responses related to the group preference style were more varied and reliable as compared to the other responses. Also, 25 instructors (82%) believed that their students preferred their teacher to provide plenty of in-class student discussions (M = 4.13, item 4; see Appendix 1, Part III).
In addition, most of the interviewees emphasized the importance of interactive teaching and group work, which suggested that they would encourage social interaction in the language classroom through adequate learning and practice opportunities. One of the participants elaborated on the reasons for using group work in class as follows:

This is very important. That's the aim of having group work in our classes actually… So, you have to consider different students I mean…hmm…levels, intellectual abilities, and so different varieties/diversities are very important in groups. That's the whole aim of group work. (T5)
These results seemed to indicate that the participants were aware of the importance of the social interaction in the language classroom, which is in line with the current socio-cultural approaches [61,62] as well as the positive views on group work in the language classroom [7]. Importantly, the match between the English language teachers' stated teaching behaviors and beliefs [29] suggested their awareness of the effect of teaching styles on classroom interaction and learners' socialization [23,25,39]. Teacher awareness in this regard is important because as advocated by Harmer  [27] it is the teacher who has the necessary training and expert knowledge to incorporate "methodology and context, as equals" for the benefit of everyone involved (p. 294). Another major finding in the present study was a reported repertoire of other preferences such as the visual (overall M = 3.60) and auditory (M = 3.56) perceptual teaching styles. Specifically, the participants favored such visual style related activities as assigning learners to read instructions for better understanding (M = 4.30, item 12) and assigning learners to read instructions to remember better (M = 4.20, item 10). In addition, the language teachers expressed preferences for such auditory style related activities as assigning learners to listen to instructions for better comprehension (M = 4.70, item 1) and assigning learners to listen how to do tasks for better learning (M = 4.30, item 7).
Moreover, the respondents believed that their students preferred the teacher to provide them with a model (92%, M = 4.60, item 3), and stated in the interviews that they were aware of their teaching styles and developed their awareness through classroom experience as shared by one of the teachers: It's from experience, observation, observing and getting good output, getting good outcome of… it brings you or leads you to the way to practice it more and more often. (T1) Another participant related her teaching style to her learning style as follows: Further, the teachers agreed that all students have their own learning styles and learning strengths and weaknesses (96%, M = 4.83, item 1). In the interviews, the participants, therefore, noted the importance of being aware of their learners' learning styles as follows: Of course, it is important. I mean…Hmm…reaching your target and speaking as a teacher is important; therefore, we have to be aware of all the learning styles, but then again there are many learning styles… (T4) The majority described their students as visual and auditory learners, and emphasized the uniqueness of learning styles. The insights below from the interviewees illustrate their catering for their students' styles: This result supported researchers' views on the importance of teachers' awareness of learner differences, catering to their learning styles, modification of teaching styles, and employment of various instructional activities [9,18,23,50,59,67] Yet another major finding in our study was the favorable questionnaire and interview reports related to the matched design. Specifically, 26 participants (86%) believed that a mismatch between teaching and learning styles causes learning failure, frustration, and demotivation (M = 4.33, item 2). This result was in line with related discussions in the literature on the significance of matching teaching and learning styles in various instructional contexts [4,40,49,58,68]. The finding also supported Ellis' [18] suggestions on the reciprocal adaptation of the learner and instruction, and Summers and Lovorn's [54] related insights.
Although some interviewees noted certain administrative and curricular constraints in relation to the matched design, most were aware that addressing different learning styles and intellectual abilities of learners in the classroom, and making useful adaptations in their teaching styles based on their learners' learning styles would yield positive outcomes both for students and teachers, as shared by one of the participants: Well, to do that I think you first need to carry out a kind of survey to establish the learning styles; then, put students together into groups based on those learning styles; then design instructing that is …like with those learning styles. Is… How would that…yeah, I mean… that's probably I'm not doing it…but you know I'm just thinking it would be possible to do it. (T7) This insight can be regarded as significant in terms of raising teachers' contextual and methodological awareness for a wider pedagogical repertoire in the language classroom [28,30]. The English language teachers also emphasized the positive effect of consideration of students' learning styles both on learning and teaching which can be attributed to Sowden's [52] characteristics of 'the good teacher' . One of the participants shared the following insight in this regard:

I have students from different backgrounds: from Nigeria from, Russia; so, I use different styles. …it depends on the students' needs, their cultural backgrounds; so, we have to consider all those things. (T6)
This participant's perception was in line with research which advised teachers to make a balanced use of styles in order to be able to meet different needs of students [20,23,35,67]. What warranted our attention in the present study was the predominant belief of the language teachers about their students' unawareness of their own learning styles, as expressed by one of the interviewees: There is NO… I mean…Hmm… awareness, in the sense of awareness. (T1) The participants shared that they would ask students questions before and do observations during the lesson time to identify their learning styles. In this regard, 27 teachers (90%) believed that learning will be improved if students become aware of a wider range of styles and stretch their own styles (M = 4.50, item 5). One of the instructors shared in this regard: I think you know…It is important that some consideration is given to these learning styles. And…Yes, perhaps it's not such a bad idea to introduce… very short humble questionnaire, inventory… to identify the learning styles of the students. It doesn't have to be anything complex but just to see… you know… how that particular class …you know… what their preferences are. (T7) Administration of a short questionnaire as suggested by the above instructor can certainly be useful for raising students' awareness of a wider range of styles and the advantages of stretching their own styles, however it may also be beneficial for English language teachers since they can gain knowledge about their learners' learning styles and preferences via this questionnaire and, if need be, develop their receptivity to change [7,58], and apply various teaching styles to cope with potential professional difficulties [11,40,55], as also expressed by one of the participants: It's good to form students into groups even …they have different learning styles. It helps the students to learn how the other students, I mean the way they look at things, their point of view as well, they can observe this in the same group. Maybe this helps them to … aware of their own learning styles as well. OK, you think like this, but I can do it in that way, better maybe. So, it's good, I mean sometimes diversity is good, they have different opinions, they have different learning styles. I mean that helps students to become more aware of themselves as well. (T6) Our findings are at some variance with those of Peacock [46] in that the English language teachers in his study preferred the kinesthetic style to the group style. However, the majority of the teachers in Peacock [46] and the present study believed that their students wanted them to provide a model, and agreed that learning will be improved if students become aware of a wider range of styles, and stretch their styles. Importantly, the participants in both studies expressed favorable questionnaire beliefs about the matched design. On the one hand these results may be accounted for by the foreign language type of instruction in our and Peacock's [46] study, on the other hand they may be attributed to the teachers' individual differences across both instructional contexts. Finally, we contend that in the present study the English language teachers' other characteristics such as their age, gender, previous teaching experiences were also at work and interacted with their stated preferences for perceptual teaching styles and related beliefs.

Conclusion
In order to facilitate and improve student learning, it is necessary to investigate teacher beliefs and practices [3,24]. This study was motivated by the emphasis on this need and scarcity of the related research in ESL/EFL contexts. Admittedly, the present study has certain limitations in that it did not conduct observations of the English language classes of the participating teachers. Also, it did not conduct a survey with the students. However, the study employed a reliable data collection instrument previously administered in another instructional context. Hence, we assume that the combined quantitative questionnaire and qualitative interview data provided important insights to the "reality" of the English language teachers' practice in terms of their perceptual teaching style preferences as well as related beliefs in the context of the present study.
This study contributes to the research on the language teacher individual differences, specifically perceptual teaching styles and related beliefs in higher education contexts. Given the scarcity of studies on teaching styles 1 3 in language classrooms, this study provided novel data on English language teachers' preferences for different perceptual teaching styles, their beliefs about their styles, their learners' preferences and learning styles, as well as teachers' positive perceptions related to the matched instructional design. Therefore, we hope that the findings of this research provided the participating teachers and their line managers with insights related to the content, structure, and delivery of the English language courses being offered, as well as insights for professional development endeavors.
Specifically, our study revealed that a great majority of participants believed in the benefits of using matched instructional design in their classrooms. Although this finding is in line with the results of relevant research studies [4,40,49,58,68], further evidence is required in order to be able to confidently suggest the implementation of matched instructional design on a large scale in EFL/ESL teaching contexts. The need for "validating the use of a learning-style assessment in an instructional setting" and its potential benefits for the teaching-learning process through further research is also highlighted in the literature ( [44], p. 117).
Significantly, this study showed that participating teachers were aware of their students' learning styles and they did their best to cater to as well as stretch their students' matching perspective to foster their learning. In light of this research finding, the classroom practitioners can consider their students' learning styles and hear their "voices" not only to inform their pedagogical decisions but also to raise students' awareness of their own learning styles so that they can find the most appropriate study techniques for themselves [60]. To this end, "teachers need to examine their belief structure regarding education and engage in an ongoing process of diagnosis with self and with learners including observation, questioning, obtaining evaluative feedback, and critical reflection" ( [23], p. 56).
To support teacher endeavors in this regard, school leaderships should allow teachers who know the students and the classroom realities the best to be more autonomous in decision taking [4] as such an approach cannot only enable teachers to be more conscious of their roles and responsibilities but also make them feel more skillful and efficient [39]. If teachers feel the support of the management, they might also be more willing to question and improve their practices as they would be able to identify with organizational goals and values and exert more effort not only for their own professional development but also organizational [24]. In this way, teachers can also contribute to their students' learning by encouraging them "to be more open-minded about teachers' different teaching approaches/styles so that they receive maximal benefits from their university education" ( [67], p. 236).
Prospective studies can consider adopting a naturalistic inquiry approach to incorporate classroom observations in order to obtain a more comprehensive picture of the application of perceptual teaching styles in the instructional context. Inclusion of students and observers in addition to teachers in this process can lead to a better understanding of relationships between different variables as suggested in a relevant study [24]. Additionally, future research can look into thinking styles as they are believed to have an impact on teaching styles [19]. Further research can also examine language learners' beliefs and preferences for their own learning styles, and their teachers' teaching styles. Finally, prospective studies can employ a comprehensive survey on matched styles in order to inform educational services on offer. To conclude, we contend that any study on styles is a step towards realizing the wealth of colors in education and using diverse colors in classrooms to paint unique pictures with students because "each individual style is like a different colour on an artistic palette" ( [25], p. 2).

Part II: perceptual teaching style preference questionnaire
The descriptive statistics on the English language teachers' preferences for perceptual teaching styles.