Despite the worldwide curriculum innovations to teach English through meaning-focused
communicative approaches over the years, studies report that most language teachers still
follow transmission-based grammar-oriented approaches. It is known that the success of any
curriculum innovation is dependent on teachers. Therefore, given that teaching grammar has
always been a central, but problematic domain for language teachers, what teachers believe
and do regarding grammar instruction is an important issue that needs to be investigated.
However, studies that research teachers and their grammar teaching are rare, and almost
non-existent at the elementary-level English teaching contexts. Therefore, through a question-
naire given to 108 teachers and a focus-group interview, the present study investigated Turkish
primary-level English language teachers’ beliefs and practice patterns of teaching grammar,
and the reasons behind these patterns. The results revealed that teachers predominantly prefer
the traditional focus-on-formS approach, which indicates a serious clash with teachers and
curriculum goals, on the one hand, and theoretical suggestions on the other. The paper ends
with discussions and suggestions for teacher education and language policy-making.

doi: 10.15700/201412120943