A Case Study Of High School English Teachers’ Beliefs In The Context Of Informatization

Teacher belief is a very complex topic,involving different aspects,such as the belief about the essence of language,language learning and teaching,the relationship between learners,teachers and teachers,and teacher’s professional development.Meanwhile,teachers bring these beliefs into the classroom and directly affect the teaching effectiveness.To date,more and more scholars at home and abroad have switched their focus to the exploration of teacher belief.Previous research mainly focuses on the influencing factors of teacher belief and the relationship between teacher belief and teaching practice in a single subject,however,there is still insufficient research on teachers’ beliefs in the context of the integration of informatization and English curriculum.Whether teachers can transform traditional beliefs,reconstruct their new belief to meet the requirements of informatization also provides reference for the development of teacher belief that are suitable for the new curriculum reform.This thesis integrates the dimensions proposed by Caldhead,Richards and Lockhart,and finally determines the four aspects to be explored: teachers’ beliefs in teaching,teachers’ beliefs in the role of teachers and students,teachers’ beliefs in English teaching as a profession and teachers’ beliefs in the classroom.And in the light of sociocultural theory,this case study adopts a qualitative study approach with data collected from interviews and classroom observation and explores six high school English teachers’ beliefs in Yantai No.14 middle school.Specifically,this thesis analyzes the status of high school English teachers’ beliefs in the context of informatization,including teachers’ beliefs in teaching,teachers’ beliefs in the role of teachers and students,teachers’ beliefs in English teaching as a profession and teachers’ beliefs in the classroom and the relationship between teacher belief and teaching practice,as well as the factors that affect the relationship between teacher belief and teaching practice.The results indicate that different English teachers have their own preferences in the four dimensions of teacher belief.First of all,teachers hold a positive attitude towards the combination of informatization and English teaching.Secondly,all teachers agree that high school English classes should be student-centered in the context of informatization,but sometimes it is difficult to implement in reality.Furthermore,most teachers actively pursue professional development and self-improvement in the context of informatization.Finally,all teachers believe that the application of informatization in the classroom has no special influence on classroom management,as long as attention is paid to the guidance and control of the classroom.Moreover,in the context of informatization teacher belief affects their teaching practice,but some beliefs are difficult to be incorporated into English teaching practice,and there is a gap between teacher belief and teaching practice.The main reasons influencing the relationship between teacher belief and teaching practice contain the external factors,e.g.,society,school culture,colleague relations,students,etc.;internal factors,e.g.,teachers’ educational experience,personality,career motivation,etc.In the end,this study comes up with some recommendations and implications for senior high school English teachers’ professional development as well as their English teaching.