Chinese primary school teachers’ practices and beliefs about teaching writing: a survey of grade 2 and 3 teachers

This survey study examined how Chinese language art teachers in primary schools taught writing in China and their beliefs about writing and teaching writing. Participants were 220 grade 2 and 3 primary school teachers in an eastern province in China. Most teachers adopted a balanced approach to writing instruction, combining traditional skills instruction with process writing instruction. Teachers spent a considerable amount of time (about 52 min a day on average) teaching writing and used a variety of instructional practices. They focused on teaching both basic and process skills, used certain practices to support students’ writing, and made efforts to extend writing to home. Teachers are generally positive about their writing and effectiveness in teaching writing. Their beliefs significantly predicted their reported use of instructional practices. Despite these positive findings, there are practices raising concerns, e.g., inadequate time students spent in writing, the limited type of writing tasks, the infrequent use of technology and motivational activities, and the loose connection between writing and other content areas. Specific recommendations were given to improve writing instruction in lower-grade classrooms in China.