A Comparison On Teacher Beliefs Of Senior High School English Teachers

With the rise of educational reform,the study of teacher beliefs has caught more and more attention of scholars at home and abroad.Researches on teacher beliefs focus on the connotations of teacher beliefs,the relationship between teacher beliefs and behaviors,influencing factors,teacher beliefs and professional development,beliefs of pre-service English teachers,grammar teaching beliefs of middle school English teachers.In the previous studies on teacher beliefs,the research subjects are often college English teachers.Current scholarship does not shed much light on the beliefs of senior high school English teachers.As the key figures in English education,senior high school English teachers have a self-evident influence on the development of English education in China.Therefore,this thesis probes into the general situation of senior high English teachers' beliefs,and tests whether any differences exist in the beliefs held by teachers from demonstrative senior high schools and ordinary senior high schools.The research results can provide references for senior high school English teachers,so that they can constantly reflect on and correct their own teacher beliefs in English learning and teaching,and promote their own professional development.In addition,schools where teachers work can create a better environment for teachers to practice their teacher beliefs.Meanwhile,the study can also provide references for institutions that provide teacher training,thereby improving training programs and design to promote the development of teacher training.In order to investigate the truth successfully,questionnaire and interview were used in the thesis.And 84 in-service senior high school English teachers from different schools participated in the study including three demonstrative senior high schools and three ordinary senior high schools.And as is indicated from the overall analysis of the results of questionnaire and interview,teacher beliefs held by senior high school English teachers tend to be positive and open in general.To be specific,as for English learning,they disagree that English learning is for good scores,and they emphasize the importance of understanding meaning and learning the culture of English-speaking countries.But recitation,memorization,grammar and vocabulary are still regarded as the key to English learning for some teachers.They hold student-centered teaching philosophy and they prefer cooperation in classroom,paying more attention to the development of students.Meanwhile,they have a clear and sensitive attitude towards students' self-learning,self-management,and responsibility.As for curriculum,most of English teachers working at senior high schools have realized the significant roles of learner in English course.Meanwhile,senior high school teachers pay attention to students' participation in the selection of teaching content,process and evaluation in their teaching.As for beliefs about teaching,teachers have realized the importance of the interest,ability,emotions,and life experiences of learners,but their teaching materials still focus on textbooks.As for beliefs about teachers,most of them are aware of pursuing their own professional development,but some teachers still regard teaching subject knowledge and skills as the main job of an English teacher.Moreover,no statistically significant differences are found between teachers working at demonstrative senior high schools and ordinary senior high schools,including beliefs about English learning,learners,curriculum,teaching and teachers.In view of these findings,the thesis puts forward some suggestions for senior high school English teachers,schools,and teacher training institutions.But the thesis still exists some limitations because the number of subjects in the study is quite small,and the research instruments are not various.And suggestions for future study are proposed in the end.