Abstract:
The aim of the study was to assess the beliefs and practices of English language teachers in teaching
reading skills to grade 10 students at Bantu Secondary School. The study included a total of 5 EFL
teachers and 190 grade 10 students, (5 EFL teachers and 38 students) who were selected using a
comprehensive and a systematic sampling method. A descriptive research design with qualitative and
quantitative data collection methods was used in this study. The data that was collected from the
respondents through interviews and classroom observation by using note-taking, audio recordings and
checklist were interpreted qualitatively. On the other hand, the data that was gathered through
questionnaires from students was interpreted quantitatively by using a statistical package for social
science (SPSS) version 27. These were done in the form of tables using the tabular method and analyzed
and interpreted numerically using frequency and percentage. The results of the study indicated that
although the teachers had strong beliefs about teaching reading skills, they did not implement them in
practice. The teachers also lacked awareness of the necessary reading phases. The classroom observation
results further revealed that the teachers were unable to put their beliefs into practice. The study suggests
that it is not enough for teachers to have strong beliefs about teaching reading skills, but they also need
to implement them ef ectively. Furthermore, the study recommends that teaching reading skills should be
given more attention, and teachers should support their students by providing them with various reading
strategies.
