Astudy Of Middle School English Teachers’ Perceptions Of EIL And Attitudes Towards TEIL

The linguistic,cultural and functional diversity associated with the unprecedented spread of English have challenged some of the conventional assumptions of English language teaching(ELT).In the past decade or so,scholars have called for a paradigm shift in the field of ELT in order to meet the requirements of complex and diverse uses and users of English.Therefore,a good deal of studies have examined English language teachers’ awareness and perceptions of English as an international language(EIL).Despite this,however,little research has been conducted to explore in-service middle school English teachers’ perceptions of EIL and their attitudes towards teaching English as an international language(TEIL).To address this gap,the current study aimed to investigate in-serve middle school English teachers’ perceptions of EIL and attitudes towards TEIL as well as the correlation between their perceptions and attitudes.A mixed-method approach was employed to carry out this study.An online questionnaire was administered to collect data for quantitative analysis,and online semi-structured interviews were conducted for qualitative analysis.779 middle school English teachers’ questionnaires were collected and 9 of them were interviewed.SPSS26.0 was used to work out the data description,mean comparison analysis,correlation analysis and linear regression analysis of the collected questionnaire.Based on the results of questionnaire analysis and interviews,the main findings of this study revealed that:(1)middle school English teachers’ perceptions of EIL was at a medium level(M=3.71,out of 5),and teachers’ perceptions ranked as follows:Current status of English > Strategies for Multilingual/Multicultural Communication > Varieties of English > English Speakers’ Identity,which suggested that middle school English teachers had a good understanding of the international status of English,nevertheless,they had poor perceptions of English speakers’ identity.(2)among the sixth demographic variables,except the years of teaching,the other five all affected teachers’ perceptions of EIL,which indicated that middle school English teachers’ perceptions of EIL was greatly influenced by demographic variables.(3)with regards to classroom teaching,middle school English teachers preferred native speakers’ standards,such as British English and American English,and they were reluctant to adopt the English models of non-native speakers.(4)the attitudes of middle school English teachers towards TEIL was greatly influenced by the choice of English models.(5)middle school English teachers’ perceptions of EIL exerted only a little influence on their attitudes towards TEIL in teaching practice.This study is conducive to better understanding of middle school English teachers’ perceptions of EIL and their attitudes towards TEIL.The study results shed light on the teaching and learning of English as an international language that Chinese middle school English teachers should take into account when facing pedagogical dilemma.