An Investigation Of Junior High School English Teachers’ Professional Development

With the further development of knowledge economy and international communication,English, as one of the most widely used languages, has gained more and more appeal. Only byenhancing their professional development can English teachers in the21st century meet therequirements of the “New Curriculum”, keeping pace with the times. Only by improving theircompetence can they become teacher-researchers. Therefore, junior high school Englishteachers’ professional development is the key to the new round of education curriculum reformlaunched in China. English teachers’ competence and knowledge directly affects the wholeeducation quality and the enhancement of students’ English proficiency. More and moreattention has been drawn to the English teachers’ development, which has long been the focusof the teaching field. Consequently, it is very worthwhile to investigate the current situation ofthe teachers’ professional development of junior high school English teachers.The professional development of English teachers in junior high school refers to theprocess in which teachers’professional qualification can be updated, professional ability canbe gradually improved, and professional quality can be improved steadily through constantstudy, practice and reflection. Its theoretical bases are the life-long education theory,constructivism learning theory and learning motivation. Because the study of foreign languageteachers’ professional development didn’t begin until1990s in China, and the research of it ismostly about the aspect of theories, while the practical research is rare to be seen. Due to theabove reasons, based on the questionare and interview into English teachers and students inJinan junior high schools, the thesis explores the current situation of junior high school Englishteachers’ professional development, and points out the approaches to promote the junior highschool English teachers’ professional development.The research questions in this thesis include:1. the current situation and problems with thejunior high school English teachers’ professional development;2. the main factors affecting theprofessional development of the junior high school English teachers;3. the approaches andsuggestions on how to promote their professional development.This thesis aims to look into the English teachers’ professional development of junior highschools in suburbs and rural areas of Tianqiao District, Ji’nan City respectively. By means ofquestionare and interview, we analyze the current situation and problems with the junior high school English teachers’ professional development. Some tentative ways and countermeasuresfor the problems are put forward. Based on the quantitative and qualitative analysis, thefollowing conclusions are drawn:1. There are still many problems with the junior high school English teachers’ professionaldevelopment. Most teachers are lack of the enthusiasm, initiative and awareness of developingthemselves, and only about20percent of the teachers have made the explicit plans of their ownprofessional development. Though most teachers are eager to improve their profession, theyhave no idea about what to do and how to do it.2. Teachers’ professional development is affected by the interplay of various factors，including teachers’ personal reasons (32.9%) and many external influences. Namely, the generalsituation of examination-oriented education (84.7%); the teachers’ busy work and great pressure;the pursuit of higher income etc. Besides these, professional promotion assessment system,school management system and the teacher evaluation system are also the reasons.According to the present situation of English teachers’ professional development and theEnglish teaching practice, the author puts forward some ways and methods to promote juniorhigh school English teachers’ professional development, including lifelong learning, actionresearch, teaching reflection, peer assistance, experts leading, subject research, school-basedresearch and so on. And based on the results of the interview and questionnaires, the authortentatively raises some practical suggestions in consideration of external forces and the juniorhigh school English teachers. Internal cause and external cause work together to promote thejunior high school English teachers’ professional development.To sum up, in order to fundamentally change the the status quo of the junior high schoolEnglish teaching, indeed carry out the quality education, and achieve the people-orientededucation, we need to strive to improve the professional quality of the teachers’ team, and toensure the professional development of teachers, encouraging teachers to enhance learning andreflection and do action research so as to raise the overall level of education and teaching.