A Study Of The Status Quo Of ESP Teachers' Professional Development In Higher Vocational Colleges

The development of economy and society and the education goal of higher vocational education determine that English teaching in higher vocational colleges should be specialized. However, the lack of ESP(English for Specific Purpose)teachers restricts the development of ESP teaching. Therefore, the research for ESP teachers' professional development in higher vocational colleges has become the focus of attention. The purpose of this study is to investigate the status quo of ESP teachers' professional development in higher vocational colleges and the factors influencing ESP teachers' professional development. Specifically, this paper attempts to answer the following two questions:(1) What is the status quo of ESP teachers' professional development in higher vocational colleges?(2) What factors influence ESP teachers' professional development in higher vocational colleges?Based on the theory of teachers' professional development of Fullan & Hargreaves(1992) and Ye Lan(2001), the questionnaire and interview questions are designed from the following five dimensions: teachers' beliefs, English proficiency, disciplinary knowledge, teaching skills and research ability. The questionnaire and interview intend to find the present situation of ESP teachers' professional development and the factors influencing ESP teachers' professional development in higher vocational colleges. The questionnaire survey is conducted among 60 ESP teachers from eight higher vocational colleges, and 6 of them are chosen for the interview. The results of the survey show:(1) ESP teachers' beliefs are updated greatly; ESP teachers' teaching skills have improved greatly. However, ESP teachers' English proficiency, disciplinary knowledge, and scientific research ability are not so satisfying that ESP teachers should try their best to improve them to a higher level.(2) ESP teachers' professional development is affected by both contextual factors and personal factors. Specifically, social factors, school factors and family factors are the contextual factors accounting for the current situation. Meanwhile, ESP teachers' professional burnout, the original thinking and lack of perseverance constitute the personal factors.Based on the findings and analysis, the author makes some recommendations to further improve ESP teachers' professional development in higher vocational colleges.