An Exploration Of The Qualities Of Young Proficient University EFL Teachers

Modern China has seen frequent economic, commercial, technological and cultural exchanges with other parts of the world. This has given rise to a pressing demand for an increasing number of proficient English language learners. Quality English language education at universities has been paid paramount attention by the Ministry of Education as well as university administrators. In order to ensure quality English language education, proficient teachers, who teach English as a foreign language (EFL teachers) in China, are urgently needed. Correspondently, it is of great necessity to study the qualities of proficient university EFL teachers in that the qualities of teachers are the most school-related factors influencing the teaching effectiveness as well as learners’ achievements.In the related professional literature, there have been a few empirical researches in the Chinese context, focusing on the exploration of the characteristics of retired or senior good EFL teachers at universities. However, the study of the qualities of young proficient university EFL teachers tends to be underexplored, despite the fact that those young teachers account for the greatest number of total university EFL teachers.To fill in this gap, the present study was, therefore, conducted with two principal purposes. The first was to develop a grounded theory from "fat" data to elaborate the qualities of young proficient university EFL teachers; the second aim was to further investigate the trajectory of the professional growth of young proficient university EFL teachers and factors contributing to their professional development. Ultimately, this study intends to shed light on the professional development of inexperienced young EFL teachers.To this end, the researcher adopted a qualitative case study, in which one young proficient EFL teacher was scientifically chosen as a representative case. In order to triangulate the data, the researcher conducted sustained interviews with the teacher and a series of non-participant class observations in the teacher’s class. Besides, the researcher also interviewed the students and the dean. Moreover, all the collected data were analyzed respectively by the researcher in collaboration with her supervisors and the other professional researchers.The study has indicated that young proficient university EFL teachers are characterized by the following four domains of qualities:1) general professional quality; 2) pedagogical and research abilities; 3) professional morality quality; 4) personality charm quality. It has also suggested that the combined factors related to both the domain of external stimulus and that of personal motivation have contributed to the development of these qualities of proficient young teachers. In particular, the factors of personal attitudes, efforts and self-reflections in the domain of personal domain, play dominant roles in the professional development of young EFL teachers.These findings have not only provided the means for inexperienced young EFL teachers to achieve their self-professional development, but also they have suggested the ways for university administrators and policy makers to facilitate the professional growth of young EFL teachers. Namely, suggestions are put forward that abundant, beneficial, and effective teacher development programs be provided to the young teachers, targeting their real needs.