A Study Of Factors Affecting Professional Development Of University EFL Teachers From The Perspective Of Dialectic Theory

The study responds to the national call for the improvement of teacher quality and construction of innovative and professional team of teachers.Thus,it is of great necessity and significance to explore factors affecting teachers’ professional development.In the field of second/foreign language teacher education,the studies of the professional development of university English as a foreign language(EFL)teachers has increased gradually in recent years.These studies either attend to the trajectory of university EFL teacher professional development,the qualities of university EFL teachers,or the factors affecting professional development of university EFL teachers,guided from such theories as sociocultural theory,critical thinking theory and constructivism.However,there are relatively few studies on exploring the underlying reasons affecting the professional development of university EFL teachers from the perspective of dialectical theory.To fill in this research gap,the author in this thesis further explores potential factors that affect the professional development of university EFL teachers and the possible interrelationship of these factors.To meet this research purpose,the author conducted a qualitative case study with the use of semi-structured interviews with three EFL university teachers in Fujian Agriculture and Forestry University as a typical case.In order to generate research findings,the author applied the grounded theory to analyzing qualitative data collected in this study.The result of qualitative data analysis has suggested that the professional development of three teachers experienced three-stage process from a quantitative change to a qualitative change,namely,the adaptation period,the development period,and the maturation period.Moreover,in the trajectory of professional development,the professional development of these three teachers was influenced by such factors as teachers’ knowledge,critical thinking,social environment as well as teachers’ internal driving force.These four factors present a dialectical relationship,specifically,teachers’ knowledge determined the direction of their teaching practice;Critical thinking promoted teachers’ teaching level;Social environment affected the speed of teacher professional development;teachers’ internal driving force acted as a fundamental factor,which constantly interacted with their "lived" world and contributed to teachers’ knowledge and critical thinking.Driven by internal driving force,these three teachers constantly affirmed and negated themselves,and eventual realized their professional development.Based on the research findings,therefore,university EFL teachers need to strengthen their consciousness of self-professional development so as to promote their professional self-learning and critical thinking,and finally realize their professional development.Meanwhile,promoters of EFL university teacher professional development are expected to take corresponding measures and improve conditions conducive to the professional development of university EFL teachers with an ultimate purpose of promoting professional development of university EFL teachers.