This paper attempts to show that an effective and innovative English as a foreign language (EFL) curriculum is contingent upon the behavior and attitudes of the classroom teachers who carry out that curriculum. A greater understanding of these attitudes was sought in studies carried out in Hong Kong. Chinese teachers of EFL participated in a workshop that attempted to retrain teachers' attitudes for the purpose of bringing about a more communicative orientation to the teaching of English. The retraining workshop had teachers interacting face-to-face in small groups, role playing, and participating in persuasion activities. Questionnaire results about the workshop indicated that teacher behavior can be categorized as either transmissive (teacher's role is to evaluate and correct learners on established criteria) or as interpretive (teachers's role is to help learner shape his own knowledge). Further conclusions pointed out that attitudes will not change by implementing teacher training programs. One possible future remedy to strengthen the EFL curriculum would be to devise a program to accommodate the already existing attitudinal norms. (TR)