A Study Of The Novice University Business English Teachers' Professional Development

The thesis explores the novice Business English teachers' development process and the major challenges they face,as well as the relevant development strategies and suggestions.The study collects data of nine novice Business English teachers(BET)who are from different regions,in different universities,with distinctive teaching ages,and analyzes the data through the Grounded Theory-oriented content analysis.Based on the transcripts of the interview records and coding analysis,the study is designed to address the following questions: 1.What is the status quo of the novice BETs' professional development process? 2.What major challenges have the novice BETs been facing in their professional development? 3.What perceived strategies have novice Business English teachers proposed to achieve professional development?Based on the coding process,the study finds that there are mainly two kinds of novice Business English teachers,the English teachers with abundant teaching experience,and the business-related graduates with business background.The status quo of the novice Business English teachers is similar.Besides,the study finds that the novice BETs have faced various challenges,which come from teaching,academic research and working experience.Most of the BETs face the challenges at the same time.The challenges from teaching can be led by unsystematic teaching content,lack of external support,etc.The challenges from research can be led by teacher's lack of academic instructions and the external support,etc.The challenges from practical experience can be led by the lack of sufficient working opportunities and teachers' lack of practical experience,etc.Moreover,the study finds that the novice BETs could adopt a series of strategies like changing the state of mind,upgrading educational background,joining research projects,and conducting cooperative teaching,etc.The research results contribute to the understanding of the development process of novice BETs and the problems they are facing,and the strategies to facilitate professional development.Therefore,it offers guidance for the cultivation of the novice Business English teachers.