A Study On Chinese English Teachers’ Professional Identity In Junior High School

With the publication of new National English Language Teaching CurriculumStandard for Compulsory Education (Ministry of Education,2012), the Englishcurriculum reform in junior high school has entered a new historical stage. Theperformances of Chinese English teachers, who are the executor of teaching, are thekey to the effects of the new curriculum reform and English teaching in junior highschool. Good professional identity can guarantee high-quality teaching andhigh-efficient learning by Chinese English teachers in junior high school to renew,perfect and develop themselves constantly, keeping positive attitude in teaching,dealing with kinds of contradiction and pressure.Junior high school Chinese English teachers’ professional identity is the degree ofacceptance and recognition of their profession. And all aspects of their professionsuch as professional value, professional emotion, professional ability, professionalwill, professional behavior inclination, and professional social status, can be perceivedand evaluated actively by junior high school Chinese English teachers. While at thesame time they think their profession is meaningful and worthwhile. Based onprevious studies, this study makes systematic observation about the current situationand problems of junior high school Chinese English teachers’ professional identity,discusses the explicated reasons, and then gives some suggestions.By means of the questionnaire, interview and comparative analysis, this studymakes an investigation on the teachers’ professional identity of62junior high schoolChinese English teachers in7junior high schools in Hongta District. The findings areas follows:(1) The level of professional identity of junior high school ChineseEnglish teacher is just above the median level.(2) There is significant difference indifferent locations of schools on professional value identity, especially between urbanschools and urban fringe schools.(3) There is significant difference in professionaland technical ranks on professional will identity, especially between second gradeteachers and senior teachers.(4)Some dimensions of junior high school ChineseEnglish teachers’ professional identity in Hongta District change with some regularity in other demographic variables. According to research results and reflections ofcurrent conditions, there are five main influencing factors of junior high schoolChinese English teachers’ professional identity. In the end, this study gives targetedsuggestions for improving junior high school Chinese English teachers’ professionalidentity from the aspects of society, school and teachers themselves.