An Exploration Of ESP Teacher Education Models In Chinese Colleges: A Case Study

Although the teaching of ESP grows steadily and slowly in China, it has undergone great progress in recent years. However, the development is still not satisfactory. One of the problems is that the make-up, quality and training for ESP teachers are not satisfactory. Many general English teachers are required to teach ESP courses. ESP teachers from English department are good in English but they often lack specialist knowledge required in ESP courses. While ESP teachers from relevant disciplines are specialists in their own fields, their English is not good, especially their oral English. So neither of the two groups of teachers can fully satisfy students'needs and teaching requirements.In this study, investigations were carried out in order to answer the following three questions. (1) What difficulties do ESP teacher encounter in their ESP teaching? (2) What special training is needed by college EFL teachers in order to teach ESP courses? (3) What are effective ways to educate ESP teachers in Chinese colleges? The questionnaire survey and the semi-structured interviews are the main research methods for this study. Zhejiang University of Science and Technology is used as a case to explore the implementation of ESP courses (mainly EBP) and the relevant issues. Two questionnaires were designed to collect data for the above three questions, one for EFL teachers and the other for students. The teachers'questionnaires were devised for the purpose of learning about ESP teachers' background and their confidence in ESP teaching. The students'questionnaire was devised to learn about their common perceptions towards current ESP courses. Five ESP teachers were interviewed in the semi-structured interviews in order to seek a real picture concerning current ESP teachers. The study reveals that many ESP teachers with an EFL teaching background are not confident as ESP teachers and they encounter many problems in ESP teaching due to the following three reasons. First, they are lack of a sound understanding of the fundamental principles and approaches associated with ESP. Second, they are not familiar with the subject content. Third, they are lack of authentic materials.. ESP teachers'confidence in teaching is greatly influenced by these difficulties. Meanwhile, all the five ESP teachers in the semi-structured interviews state that training in theory and practice in target situation are effective in building up qualified ESP teachers. The study also reveals that most students like ESP courses, because they think these courses are more specific, practical, and supportive to their future jobs. Many students expect to become compound talents adaptable to social and economic development after taking relevant ESP courses. Based on the findings of the questionnaire survey and the interviews with reference to the underlying principles of ESP teacher education, two effective ESP teacher education models are proposed. The suggested models include the integration of self training and institution-based ESP training, and the joint-teaching between language teachers and subject teachers.The thesis holds that ESP teacher education is crucial in guaranteeing the overall quality of ESP teaching at the tertiary level in China, the education of compound talents and self-fulfillment of ESP teachers.