Teacher Reflection And English Teachers' Professional Development

English has been growing more and more important in China, and greater and greater attention is given to the English education in middle schools. Compared with other factors behind successful English teaching, the quality of English teachers has not been attached enough importance to as it deserves. This thesis attempts to draw upon the English teachers' professional development through teacher reflection in the hope of arousing teachers' awareness of self-improvement. The author holds that teacher reflection is beneficial to the improvement of teaching and teachers themselves, and teachers can achieve professional growth through reflective teaching. The study first reviews definitions and dimensions of reflection and the role of reflection in teacher development, and discusses reflective teaching in the Teaching English as a Foreign Language (TEFL) context through case study, with focuses on what and how to reflect. The study finds that novice teachers reflect more on knowledge and teaching techniques than other aspects of teaching, whereas matured teachers tend to reflect on methodologies, concepts and notions, and that collaborative reflection is a good form for teachers to exchange ideas and learn from each other. The thesis offers some suggestions on how to promote teachers' professional development, such as to arouse teachers' awareness of self-improvement, to encourage teachers to adopt reflective teaching, and to develop teachers' reflective abilities through action research. This research reveals that reflection is not as difficult as commonly supposed and that the only thing one must do is to take action; experience alone is insufficient for professional growth, instead, experience coupled with reflection can be a powerful impetus for teacher development.