1.9 Significance of the Study

The study provides a significant contribution in terms of its scope. Three areas are linked and combined to provide insight into the complex interplay between online learning environments, the evolution of FSFL methods, and teachers' beliefs. While previous research may have explored teachers' beliefs and FSFL or teachers' beliefs and technology, this study links three different areas. As well, the scope of this study is significant because it focuses on a wide range of experiences in terms of the teachers who participated in the study. These teachers represent different grades, experiences and geographic areas. The approach represents an experiment with an alternate means of collecting data in general and, in particular, it represents an effective means of eliciting beliefs through conversation and discussion. In this sense, it represents innovative use of emerging technologies for research purposes and could serve as an example for other research designs.

The increased interest in cognitive psychology has resulted in a shift in research efforts away from the product and observable aspect of teaching to the cognitive process, i.e., to teacher thinking, attitudes and beliefs. Until now, much of the research on teachers' beliefs has focused on the areas of science and math education or on reading. These investigations have frequently been concerned with understanding how teacher beliefs impact on practice. The present investigation differs from these past studies in several ways. The focus here is not only on teachers' beliefs about teaching and learning FSFL but on teaching and learning in online learning environments. Rather than considering how these beliefs impact on practice, the present investigation explores what happens to teachers' beliefs when they find themselves in an altered context or "strange land". The present study also differs from other studies of teachers' beliefs by its emphasis on the individual beliefs themselves as opposed to an emphasis on sets or systems of beliefs belonging to individuals. For example, some studies may focus on four or five individuals in order to profile the beliefs of each person. The present study focuses on the different types of beliefs themselves. Such a focus provides an opportunity to gain insight into the range of beliefs that exist among teachers and to understand the periods in the evolution of teaching which these beliefs reflect.