DUAL LANGUAGE PROGRAMME: TEACHERS’ BELIEFS AND PRACTICES IN TEACHING SCIENCE THROUGH ENGLISH

Background and Purpose: The recently implemented Dual Language Program (DLP) policy in Malaysian schools may require teachers involved in the initiative to make necessary changes in their teaching practices in appropriate directions. It may also challenge the beliefs that these teachers hold with regard to teaching subject matter in English as a medium of instruction. Thus, this study seeks to investigate the beliefs of primary Science teachers with regards to the teaching of Science through the English medium, and the extent to which the beliefs of teachers are consistent with their classroom practices. Methodology: The study employed a quantitative data collection and analysis approach. Science teachers’ beliefs and stated practices were obtained via a questionnaire using the Likert-scale. The respondents of the study include 44 primary Science teachers in Kuala Lumpur and Selangor, Malaysia. A Pearson correlation analysis was computed to examine the association between teachers’ beliefs scale and the ratings of classroom practices. Findings: The results from the statistical analysis suggest that in teaching Science using the English language, the beliefs of the primary school teachers were not always aligned with their stated practices with regard to DLP. This discrepancy between the beliefs of science teachers and their stated instructional practices could be due to the lack of professional development sessions and contextual constraints. Journal of Nusantara Studies 2020, Vol 5(1) 255-269 ISSN 0127-9386 (Online) http://dx.doi.org/10.24200/jonus.vol5iss1pp255-269 256 Contributions: This study extends work on content-based classrooms in the Malaysian context. Its findings contribute to the ongoing work on improving instructional practices in the DLP classrooms.

designate, define, and describe the structure and content of mental states that are intended to drive the actions of a person. According to Borg (2001), the term 'teacher beliefs' generally refers to evaluative propositions, which teachers hold both consciously and unconsciously and accept as true while recognizing that others may hold alternative beliefs on the same subject.
In addition, beliefs are filters that teachers employ as a guide for their classroom practices and curricular decisions. Hence, beliefs affect how, what and why teachers adopt a particular method of teaching, thus affecting the progress of the learners (Pajares, 1992).
The second characteristic revolves around the idea that teachers' beliefs affect their professional development and instructional practices. According to Nespor (1987), beliefs are shaped by previous experiences, episodes, or cultural knowledge transmission sources. Tsai (2002) argues that the beliefs of teachers about how to teach Science and the way students learn Science may be linked to their own school experience. Likewise, Raths (2001) stated that the dissimilarities in teachers' beliefs could be caused by their own experiences namely upbringing, life experiences, and their previous schooling experiences. Thus, in the sense of teachers' beliefs, it can be assumed that the beliefs of teachers are hugely made up from their own experience in planning, decision making process and classroom behavior.
The third characteristic is the link between beliefs and knowledge. Pajares (1992) refers to the distinction between beliefs and knowledge by explaining that knowledge is based on objective facts, while beliefs are based on assessment and judgment. Supporting this view, Kagan (1992) argues that knowledge can be regarded as belief stated as true based on objective evidence or consensus of opinion. Mansour (2009) also agrees with Kagan (1992) that knowledge is dynamic while beliefs are more stable. Pajares (1992) argues that teachers' beliefs about teaching and learning are found to have an influence on their instructional practices. He further added that there is a strong link between pedagogical beliefs of teachers, their plans for teaching, teaching decisions and classroom practices. Correspondingly, Borg (2011) stated that teachers' beliefs act as the foundation for action, whereby the beliefs influence and guide teachers' decision making. Furthermore, past studies have proven that the beliefs and values of teachers concerning teaching and learning will have an impact on their teaching practices (Kagan, 1992;Fives & Buehl, 2016).

Teachers' Beliefs and Instructional Practices
Numerous studies reported that teachers' beliefs influence lesson planning and classroom instructional activities (Borg, 2006;Basturkmen, 2012;Sato & Kleinsasser, 2004; their respective roles as only content teachers or language teachers limits their learners' language learning opportunities. The findings reveal the lack of collaboration between content and language teachers and the need for continued professional development with regard to content and language integration for both teacher groups. As Olson (2007) points out, instruction of languages in schools are highly influenced by language policies. Thus, any types of medium of instruction reforms would be ineffective without the teachers' preparedness towards the policies.
On the other hand, an equal number of research suggests that the beliefs of teachers do not correspond to their practices (Buehl & Beck, 2015;Lee, Baik, & Charlesworth, 2006;Stipek & Byler, 1997). The link between the beliefs and practices of teachers is rather complex as it is influenced by various factors including teachers' experience, knowledge and their school culture. These factors contribute to the convergence or divergence of their beliefs and practices. Borg (2003) argued that contextual constraints might prevent teachers from implementing their beliefs.
As DLP is a national agenda, it is crucial that teachers play an important role to ensure successful implementation of the policy. Although past research (Mansour, 2009;Levitt, 2001) has suggested that the instructional practice of Science teachers is influenced by their beliefs, there is still a need to look at teachers ' beliefs to shed light on their classroom activities. Thus, in order to understand the task at hand, it is important for us to examine the beliefs these teachers have towards the implementation and practices in the Dual Language Program.
This study aimed at addressing the associations between beliefs and practices, which a  Table 1 displayed the mean and frequency of the Science teachers' beliefs regarding dual language program (DLP). Analysis of the data showed that most of the respondents believed that they need a lot of administrative support (m=3.66). On average, they also reported that they require supplementary resources (m=3.55) and cooperation from English language teachers (m=3.55). The Science teachers in the survey also believed that teacher-student interaction (m=3.55) is important in Science class and that they require both subject knowledge and English language proficiency (m=3.45).
In terms of planning and teaching Science lessons, they stated that it requires a lot of time (m=3.27). They agreed that focusing on both language form and content is challenging (m=3.23). On average, the Science teachers tended to believe that it is necessary to use Malay as well as English to maximize their learning (m=3.20) and important to provide comprehensible input in learning Science using the English language (m=3.14). This is due to the fact that they believed learning science in English is cognitively demanding for the students.
Three items, which received the lowest scores in this construct, are related to English language skills. The Science teachers rated 'DLP helps students develop only their language skills' (m=2.66) and 'think their students have no problem in understanding the content of Science in English lessons well' (m=2.64). The teachers rated the statement 'primary school students learn English best when Science class is entirely conducted in English' lowest (m=2.61).
The results for research question one concerning teachers' beliefs about teaching Science through English indicate that their main focus in the classroom is on teaching subject matter. This finding corroborates with Tan's (2011) study.   (2001) results that the process of teaching and learning through the medium of a second language is challenging for the teachers. Although teachers appear to react positively to the use of English as a teaching medium to teach science, data from this study suggests that, the language of the classroom is very often a mixture of English and Malay.
The three least scoring items in this construct focus on 'vocabulary items related to general English' (m=2.64), using bilingual dictionary (m=2.48), and grammatical structures related to science (m= 2.36).