Research On The Status And Influencing Factors Of Novice English Teachers’ Identity Of Junior Middle School

In 2011,Ministry of Education issued Standards of English Curriculum for Compulsory Education(Edition 2011),which made a more comprehensive requirement for the concepts of English teaching.English teachers must thoroughly understand the new concepts before applying them correctly to practical teaching.It is a crucial period for students to accumulate knowledge and develop skills in junior middle school,during which the teaching ability of an English teacher is one of the major factors influencing students’ English learning.However,in the beginning stage of professional development,novice English teachers are faced with confusion from teaching and interpersonal communication,which influence their professional development and the quality of their teaching.Novice English teachers’ identity can help them understand the concepts of teaching,improve professional qualities and solve existing problems.Therefore,it is necessary to study novice English teachers’ identity of junior middle school and its influencing factors.Based on Teacher Career Cycle Model and Hierarchy of Needs,the research employed quantitative and qualitative methods.Specifically,the research adopted questionnaire to investigate 86 novice English teachers and conducted interview and observation on 3 novice English teachers of junior middle school in Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps to probe into three questions: 1.What is the status quo? 2.What are the influencing factors? 3.What are the ways to promote their identities?Combined with the analysis of questionnaire data and interview,the findings are exposed as follows: 1.The overall status of their identity is above the medium level.Specifically,the tendency of their identity is unbalanced.Identities on person and occupation are relatively high;identity on profession is above the medium level,while identity on situation is close to a low level.Except for the low level of English proficiency and organizational support,the other elements are at a higher level.More precisely,male novice teachers and female novice teachers differ in occupational values,sense of occupational belonging and English teaching beliefs;there is no significant difference in each elements of novice teachers’ identity in terms of final degree and types of colleges;there is a significant difference in each elements of novice teachers’ identity in terms of the types of school in which they have been teaching;novice teachers of different length of teaching services differ in sense of occupational belonging,English teaching beliefs and attitude towards the reform of teaching.2.The research also concluded the influencing factors of novice teachers’ identity consist of internal factors,such as teachers’ professional qualities,reflective behaviors and psychological states,and external factors involving school support and significant others.3.The research finally put forward strategies to promote novice English teachers’ identity.In terms of novice English teachers,they are expected to improve their professional qualities,form a habit of effective reflection and maintain a healthy mental state.When it comes to schools,they are supposed to provide not only material and professional support,but psychological and institutional support for novice teachers.