College English Teacher Personal Belief In General Education: An Action Research

Previous research has revealed the influential role teachers’ beliefs play in moldingtheir professional behavior. In education, beliefs determine what ought to be taught, andhow and why it is taught. Teachers’ beliefs not only shape teaching, but also suggestimplications for the implementation of educational innovations and teacher development.This study documents one college English teacher’s research, in which heincorporates his beliefs about general education into his teaching. Analyzed in this study isthe teacher’s belief system in connection with pedagogical practices in English class andprofessional development. Much attention is focused on the extent to which theintroduction of an innovative teaching approach affects a teacher’s belief and his practicein education. The study centers on the teacher’s personal belief in general education andhis application of content-based instruction in the context of English teaching in auniversity.The main question of this study is: how does the college English teacher’s belief ingeneral education affect his practice of teaching? The objective is to explore thealternatives of effective teaching and learning. The whole study is designed to addressthree specific questions, each at a different level:1. The college English teachers’ belief in general education and the practical optionsavailable2. General education and effective teaching (and learning) of college English3. General education and teacher’s professional development.The present study is supported by the following three theories: the socio-culturaltheory, the threshold hypothesis and the structuralist theory. The notions of “mediation”,“internalization” and “the zone of proximal development” require the teacher to be anassistant to the students and to value the irreplaceable role played by the “culture” in thesociety in human psychological development. General education in the zone of proximaldevelopment is conducive to the students’ cognitive development of language skills andintercultural awareness. The threshold hypothesis alerts English teachers that collegeEnglish teaching, which is in the post-threshold stage, ought to shift from the developmentof skills to the cultivation of qualities. Nowadays, freshmen have a far better Englishbackground and will respond adequately to an all-round approach. The structuralist theory emphasizes the influence of the learning situation on the actual practice. General educationcan help raise the learner’s awareness of the learning situation. The awareness can awakenthe learner’s cognition of their previous and current learning experience, and help prioritizetheir learning strategies in order to improve their critical thinking.This study is implemented in two phases. Included in the primary tasks of the firstphase are: to examine how helpful the college English teacher’s belief in general educationis to excite student interest; to determine the content-based instruction is the most efficientway for general education. The second phase of the study is empirical, drawing on data toprove the validity of general education.The research results of these two phases show that a teacher’s beliefs in generaleducation are observed to help students learn English. General education helps studentsperceive their unique learning situations. The practice of content-based instructionincreases teachers’ reflective understanding of their inductive approaches to teaching andeducation. The results verify some effects showing that content-based foreign languageinstruction is able to increase students’ English learning motivation and performance intheir English study. Teachers’ professional development is therefore achieved despitediverse difficulties and impediments in practices. Findings indicate that teachers’ personalbeliefs in general education are likely to bring about a fresh understanding of effectiveteaching and education, and professional development as well.By combining the major theories of teaching, learning and education, the presentstudy makes an action research into college English classes on the basis of personalexperiences. With much discussion on some issues in actual teaching and someimplications for solutions, this study aims to verify the interconnection of personal beliefand teaching behavior, general education and effective teaching, general education andteacher professional development. In the final conclusion, the dissertation claims thedrawbacks of this study and offers some suggestions for further research.