English Teachers' Professional Development In Hebei Secondary Schools In The Background Of New Curriculum

Since the new curriculum reform, a lot of changes have taken place in the secondary school English teaching and teachers. The new concepts in New Curriculum Standard prompt teachers to improve themselves. Several years has passed since the beginning of the teaching reform. How well do the secondary English teachers understand the New Curriculum Standard now? Are the English teachers satisfied with their current teaching and what are teachers'needs in their professional development? The answers to these questions can shed light on the current situation of the implementation of the new curriculum and the development of English teachers. Previous relevant studies mainly focused on the secondary teachers'development. Few studies inquired into the English teachers'development after the beginning of the new curriculum. This study intends to investigate the secondary school English teachers'professional development in the background of the new curriculum.Both quantitative and qualitative methods are used in this study. Questionnaires and interview are employed to collect the data and information on secondary school English teachers'professional development. 136 English teachers from 98 secondary schools took part in the survey. 10 of them were interviewed. The questionnaires and interview explored six aspects of English teachers'development: the teachers'understanding of the new curriculum, their knowledge of relevant teaching theories, their language proficiency, their teaching abilities and methods, their ability in doing research and their attitude towards professional development.We have the following major findings. Firstly, although most English teachers state that they know the New Curriculum Standard, some of them can not fully understand the key concepts in the new curriculum. Secondly, some English teachers need to have more knowledge of relevant theories, especially the language learning theories. Thirdly, a certain number of English teachers need to improve some aspects of their language proficiency, such as their listening abilities, oral communication ability, and cultural knowledge. Fourthly, most English teachers are confident in their teaching ability and they think their teaching methods are effective. A small number of teachers feel they need to improve teaching abilities and methods. Fifthly, most English teachers need to have the consciousness of doing research to assist teaching. Sixthly, most English teachers feel the necessity of participating in the teacher training programs. They want to have more opportunities of professional training.From the research findings, we propose that the teachers should have the consciousness of self-development and make some efforts to improve themselves. The government and schools should organize more teaching trainings which can cater to English teachers'needs and help teachers develop themselves.