| Since the end of the20thcentury, college English teachers’ professionaldevelopment has received more and more concerns from teachers, researchers andscholars. Some scholars pointed out that the professional development of foreignlanguage teachers is related to career of more than one hundred thousand foreignlanguage teachers and quality of education in China (Xia,2006). As the central figurein college English teaching, foreign language teachers, closely linked to overallEnglish teaching quality, play a very significant role in college English teachingprocess and outcome. However, with the widespread applications of networktechnology in English teaching, many new challenges and more requirements emergein both the professional development of college English teachers and college Englishteaching reform. In the new era, it is of virtual importance in China whether collegeEnglish teachers are familiar with the characteristics of the era, and whether they keepon self-improvement and developing themselves, refreshing teaching concepts toimprove teaching quality efficiently, applying network technology in college Englishteaching and promoting their professional development with the help of networktechnology.Foreign language education researchers both in China and overseas have carriedout many studies on foreign language teachers’ development, such as study on foreignlanguage teachers’ knowledge schema, learning, development motivity and approach,which generally reflect the important role of foreign language teachers’ study to theirdevelopment. Along with the in-depth researches, foreign language teacherprofessional development in network environment has become an importantcomponent of foreign language teacher development. In recent20years, researcheson network foreign language teaching increase rapidly in China and overseas, mainlycovering theories, teaching methods, research on participants and so on. However,most researches focus on the role of network technology in English teaching and theimpacts of network technology on students. Few researches are found on the influenceof network technology on college English teacher development, especially teacher as a learner to participate in teaching activities with the help of network technology topromote their professional development. The present research focuses on followingquestions for research and discussion:(1) when college English teachers promoteteaching quality and professional development, what is the status quo of theapplication of network technology (including using frequency, common websites andsoftware) when the teacher uses it to promote teaching and professional development?(2) what are the differences in teaching concepts and practice between college Englishteachers who use network technology and the teachers who do not use networktechnology?(3) what are the effects of the differences on college English teacherdevelopment?The present research is conducted based on social constructivist theory proposedby former Soviet psychologist Vygotsky, which shed new light on foreign languageteacher professional development and took foreign language teachers as learners inthe teaching process. According to social constructivist, the learner positivelyconstructs his meaningful learning process with the assistance of others according tohis knowledge background. Since multiple sense stimulations with sounds, texts andimages, interface-friendly and intuitive interactive learning environment are providedin network technology, as well as the hypertext and hyperlink to manage subjectknowledge and a variety of teaching information, it is not only good for teacher aslearner to discover and explore initiative abilities, but also good for establishingconnections between new and old knowledge. Therefore, it is beneficial to promotelearners to construct the meaning of knowledge they have learned and are learning.The present study uses a questionnaire to investigate100English teachers from10universities including Jilin University, Northeast Normal University, ChangchunUniversity, Changchun University of Science and Technology, Changchun NormalUniversity, and Changchun Institute of Technology, selecting10English teachers fromeach university. There are18questions in the questionnaire, with the aim to have abasic and overall understanding of100English teachers’ application of networktechnology in teaching activities. What is the frequency of English teachers’ usingnetwork technology and which specific kind of network technology tools do they use? The collected data have been calculated and analyzed by SPSS. Moreover,6Englishteachers out of100were interviewed, three of whom use network technologyfrequently and three not. The interview mainly touches upon the usage of networktechnology of college English teachers, teaching activities based on networktechnology and their comments and reflections on their professional development.Finally, the present research explores the impacts of network technology on collegeEnglish teaching concept and practice based on data from the questionnaire and theinterviews.It is found from analysis and comparison of collected data from the questionnairethat college English teachers use network technology to assist teaching with highfrequency. The majority of interviewees use network technology frequently. Teachersusing network technology occasionally only occupies14%, while there is no one whohas never used network technology. The majority of teachers are capable of applyingnetwork technology skillfully to facilitate their daily English teaching. Conclusion canbe drawn from the interviews that changes in teachers’ teaching concept are occurringwith the application of network technology. In contrast to the traditional teaching,under network technology environment the relationship between teacher and studentstends to be equal, and teaching methods are more diversified and interaction betweenteacher and students increases greatly. Network technology promotes teachers’ self-development and provides increasing pathways for their future professionaldevelopment.The implications of the present research are as follows: firstly, college Englishteachers should understand that network technology plays a significant role in collegeEnglish teaching and development in their future career, so that they should takeinitiative to foster capability to use network technology. Teachers should use networktechnology consciously in their teaching performance, so as to adapt to newtechnology and apply it skillfully with an aim of exploring new and useful networktechnology for their English teaching. Secondly, college English teachers should usenetwork technology actively and consciously. As a lifelong learner, they shouldconstantly update their knowledge base with the aid and application of network technology. Teachers should learn to use network technology to study and further theirprofessional development. Moreover, college English teachers should explore andoffer their insight into how to utilize network technology in English teaching.Teachers should give second thought on traditional teaching concept and combinetheir teaching with the rapid development and widespread application of networktechnology. Also, teachers should attach great importance to psychological state ofstudents, intensify communication and interaction with students and regulate roles ofteachers and students via e-mail, msn, QQ, etc. Teaching contents and teachingactivities should be designed to reach the expected effects and objectives. Teachersshould make their teaching more student-friendly with network technology, so as toimprove their teaching skills. Thirdly, college English teachers should understand andutilize network technology to boost development in their own research. Teachersshould consciously examine and explore the relations between network technologyand professional development of college English teachers. Under the circumstance ofwell-developed network environment, college English teaches should seek to developthemselves effectively and positively with network resources, such as building upvaluable network communication platforms, and blogs and forums, so as to carry outacademic activities more, which are beneficial for teaching experiencecommunication among teachers. They should explore more feasible means to promotetheir own professional development. |
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