INVESTIGATING THE ASSOCIATIONS BETWEEN ENGLISH LANGUAGE TEACHERS` REFLECTIVENESS AND TEACHING EXPERIENCE

Interest in language teacher reflection has grown massively after the emergence of post-method era. This study aims to explore the potential associations between teacher reflectiveness and experience among EFL teachers. To this end, a standard English Language Teaching Reflection Inventory (ELTRI) was employed to measure the reflectiveness of 179 English language teachers. The results revealed that there is a negative correlation between teaching experience of teachers and their reflectiveness that is aligned with the tacit claims of Cognitive Consistency Theories, specifically Congruity Theory. It is suggested that as teachers grow more experienced, they tend to become more stabilized in their instructional praxis. The findings of this study bear important implications for those who are in the realm of teaching in general and language teaching in particular.