A Reflective Approach To Teacher Development In Interpretation Classroom

The career of teaching grants us glory and pride, but we, teachers, should recognize that, when facing the educational innovation in the 21st century, we must be dedicated to it. Teachers should maintain a continuous process of reflection, within which we become aware of the values and beliefs that underpin our own teaching actions. Only by raising our awareness can teachers come to know the educational theories and the ways to achieve professional development. Teacher training has evolved into Teacher education and now we advocate Teacher development. The change of the word reflects the change of concept in educating teachers. Teacher development encourages teachers to reflect on our own teaching, conduct the classroom observation, evaluate their teaching effect and carry out the action research. It can help achieve a better understanding of our own assumptions about teaching and teaching practices. In addition, it can serve as a basis for self-evaluation and is therefore an important component of professional development.Nonetheless, it is a fact that there are indeed factors to inhibit some teachers from being involved in reflective teaching activities, such as, the lack of awareness of reflective teaching or the lack of systematic approaches to follow in teaching. In this dissertation, the present author, based on the research in SLA and popular interpretation teaching models, aims to expound how to upgrade the teaching by integrating a reflective approach into the interpretation classroom from the perspective of teachers. In the research, the present author has explored the possibility to refine and optimize the interpretation teaching through a reflective approach, thus contributing to the future teaching practice and serving as a reference to peers and colleagues.The dissertation adopts two research methods of qualitative research and quantitative research, consisting of six chapters. Chapter 1 is to introduce the purpose of the study, the methods employed to explore the study as well as the organization of this dissertation. Chapter 2, due to a call for a closer interaction between interpretation and SLA/foreign language teaching, expounds the major teaching methodologies in SLA and major interpretation theories as well as the teaching models. In addition to the classroom observation in Shanghai International Studies University, five universities—Shanghai International Studies University, Qingdao University, Anhui University of Finance and Economics, Ningbo University and Lanzhou Jiaotong University, are sampled to present the current situation of the interpretation teaching by the survey composed of two questionnaires, for learners and teachers respectively. Chapter 3 helps us have a relatively overall idea of some important elements and dimensions in teaching interpretation. Chapter 4 focuses on the relation between reflective teaching and professional development and procedures implemented in reflective teaching. Chapter 5 highlights the application of reflective approach in teaching interpretation. Following the process of reflection, the present author adopts 3R to incorporate reflection into my interpretation teaching practice, that is, Reflection on..., Reflected by…. and my Response. The statistical method of Single-factor Variance Analysis is given to test whether this application of reflective approach in interpretation classroom is effective in motivating learners and optimizing the teaching effects. The data and analysis prove that the application of reflective approach in teaching interpretation exerts positive impact on my teaching and greatly promotes the learning and teaching. The last chapter gives the reinforcement to the reflective approach in teaching practice and the limitations of this research are pointed out.Of course, there are some limitations in the process of evaluating the teaching results. For example, the self-appraisal by students may be subjectivity-prone, and evaluation through peer-coaching is subject to personal opinions, both of which lead to the lack of hard data. The research, by no means, sets out to tell teachers what effective teaching is, but rather rises to develop a critically reflective approach to teaching, which can be used with any teaching method or approach. The teacher, as a researcher and a reflective practitioner, is very demanding. However, it is necessary to look objectively at teaching and reflect critically on what one discovers. By doing so, we teachers can implement the cycle of practice and reflection which leads to a dynamic, developmental realization of"teacher development".