Study On College English Teachers’ Professional Identity And Self-efficacy In The Context Of New Curriculum Reform

Teachers’ professional identity and self-efficacy as important components of teachers’ inner cognition and emotion have attracted more and more educational researchers’ attention in recent years. However, the majority of subjects of the empirical studies on their relationship are primary and secondary school teachers. Less attention has been paid to college English teachers, though they are more likely to suffer from the crisis of professional identity and low self-efficacy because of the implementation of teaching reform. Therefore, this study attempts to comprehensively probe into the professional identity and self-efficacy of college English teachers in the context of teaching reform, in order to further learn about teachers’ inner world and promote the implementation of teaching reform.Accordingly, five research questions are raised:(1) what is the status quo of the selected college English teachers’ professional identity under the background of new curriculum reform, and does their professional identity differ in terms of demographic variables;(2) what are other potential factors that might affect teachers’ professional identity construction;(3) what is the general state of the selected college English teachers’ self-efficacy, and does their self-efficacy differ in terms of demographic variables;(4) what are other potential factors that might affect teachers’ self-efficacy;(5) what are the relationships between college English teachers’ professional identity and their self-efficacy.To fulfill these research purposes, a combination of quantitative and qualitative methodologies is adopted in present study. A survey questionnaire is first employed to collect information and a total of 37 valid responses are collected. All the subjects are from one university in Jiangsu province, in which the reform of college English teaching mode is being implemented. Then semi-structured interviews are conducted with three participants who teach different modules.The findings of the study show:1) In general, college English teachers’ professional identity is above the medium level in the context of new curriculum reform. Among the four dimensions, teachers’ sense of identification from high to low is: Teaching Reform, Professional Behavior, Input for Research and Working Conditions. As to the demographic factors, only gender has significant correlation with teachers’ professional identity;2) Significant people, harmonious working atmosphere and good relationship with students all have positive impact on teachers’ professional identity, while salary and the same standard of professional title evaluation have negative influence on teachers’ professional identity;3) In the context of new curriculum reform, college English teachers’ self-efficacy is also above the medium level. And the efficacy level of four dimensions from high to low in order is: Classroom Management, Instructional Strategies, Student Engagement and Coping with Reform. As to demographic factors, both gender and years of teaching have significant correlation with college English teachers’ self-efficacy;4) Students’ positive feedback, teachers’ mastery experiences, teachers’ cooperative community and university’s relevant policy have positive effect on teachers’ self-efficacy, while lack of the relevant teaching resources in the context of new curriculum reform will lower teachers’ self-efficacy.5) There exists significantly positive correlation between professional identity and self-efficacy of college English teachers. And college English teachers’ professional identity can positively predict their sense of self-efficacy.