An Investigation Into College English Major Teachers’ Belief

Previous researches show that what teachers believe about teaching andlearning has a great impact on their instructional decisions and practices. However,many teachers teaching English majors in China today are even not fully aware oftheir own beliefs, in the first place. In order for them to improve teachingeffectiveness and promote professional development, it is highly necessary that theygot clear about what teacher belief they hold for their teaching, i.e., teacher-centeredor learner-centered, which only a few previous studies have touched by so far.The present study is designed to investigate, by means of a teacher belief surveyby McCombs&Whisler’ and interviews, college English major teachers’ belief forteaching, learning and learners. The results from the questionnaire indicate thatteacher-centered belief is no longer as dominating among the surveyed teachers.Interestingly, they are found moving from the teacher-dominated to learner-centeredin belief. Such a transition reflects a dilemma the teachers are put in, a struggle theystart to fight, and a trend for a democratic teacher belief. The interviews find thatpersonal factors such as age, diploma, length of teaching and professional ranks arenot significantly correlated with teacher belief. Instead, teachers’ education experience,including their overseas study experience and teaching practice are in correlation.