Teacher Education: Quality Research On Graduate English Teachers For Non-English Majors

This study is an investigation on the quality of graduate English teachers for non-English majors from three aspects---teacher knowledge, teaching skills, and personality, by means of questionnaires and case study. It is a component of an on-going research project on graduate English teaching, sponsored by Beijing Graduate English Teaching and Research Association under Beijing Higher Education Research Association. The research is unique in two aspects. First, it is the first time in China that graduate English teachers'quality has been investigated. Second, it is the first time to combine questionnaire and case study in teacher quality research. The results of the research may serve as reference for 1) new syllabus design, 2) graduate English teacher education program, 3) graduate English teachers'self-improvement, and 4) recruitment for new graduate English teachers.There are three groups of subjects in present study. Group 1 consists of 105 graduate English teachers from 105 different universities in china,that is to say, one from each. Group 2 is made up of 222 first grade graduates from 8 different classes in Beijing Forestry University. And Group 3 includes 7 teachers who are also from Beijing Forestry University, and three of whom are finally chosen as representatives. Group 1 and 2 are invited to do two different but relevant sets of questionnaires, and group three are involved in a case study.The data from the questionnaires are analyzed with the Statistical Package for the Social Science and Excel. The results of the case study are summarized by the researcher after classroom observation and interviews. Results show that besides sufficient knowledge in linguistics, applied linguistics, second language acquisition, and pedagogies, and noble personality, a qualified graduate English teacher had better be competent in 1) designing courses on the basis of students'needs analysis, 2) designing suitable syllabuses, 3) compiling books, 4) designing tests, and 5) teaching specialized English that is closely related to students'academic research. Thus great attention should be paid to these aspects in graduate teacher education. And based on the results of the investigations, the requirements for teacher education have been proposed for the first time in the graduate English syllabus.