Visualization Research On Chinese English Teachers' Professional Development Sharing From The Perspective Of Mapping Knowledge

Visual mapping based on knowledge map is an emerging science technology that has developed rapidly in recent years.By using visualized software,a large amount of data information hidden in the literature can be obtained and nowadays it has been applied and developed in many disciplines.In the 21 st century,English education has become important part of education development strategies in various countries.Correspondingly,the study of English teachers' professional development has become a new topic in English teaching research.However,the current research on the visual analysis of the English teachers' professional development based on scientific knowledge maps has not yet appeared.Therefore,aiming to present the current situation of English teachers' professional development in China by Cite Space visual analysis software,the study tried to explore some effective approaches for English teacher professional development theoretically and practically.Both quantitative and qualitative approaches were employed to analyze the research development subjects,hotspots,frontiers and trends of English teachers' professional development in China,so the overall structure of English teachers' professional development in China could be seen clearly from the bird's eye view.In this study,3,291 articles searched by CNKI on theprofessional development of English teachers in China from 2001 to 2018 were chosen as data samples.Based on the scientific knowledge mapping method of scientometrics,three issues are as follows.(1)What is the current situation of the professional development of English teachers in China between 2001 and 2018?(2)What are the research hotspots of professional development of English teachers in China?(3)What are the frontiers and trends of the professional development of English teachers in China?In sum,from the map,the core author group included 13 scholars including Wang Dong,Sun Youzhong,Zheng Xinmin,Wang Xuemei and Gu Peiya,et al.These authors were mainly teachers and students from higher normal colleges and universities.The main research institutions group contained the college of Foreign Languages in Guangxi Normal University,the college of Foreign Languages in Southwest University,Shanghai International Studies University,and the college of Foreign Languages in Jiangsu University of Science and Technology,and so on.The research hotspots were mainly divided into three aspects: research object,development approaches,and research methods.The research topics included robust and incremental frontier ones.The research trends were characterized as continuous refinement of research objects,diversification of research topics and methods.Through the analysis of the map and the second study of related literatures,it was found that the research results had high similarity and thedistribution of research subjects was uneven were still existing.Therefore,this study gave some suggestions to researchers of the professional development of English teachers in China at the macro level namely standardizing academic research,stimulating the enthusiasm of researchers in various fields,and strengthening exchanges in research fields.In addition,this study also put forward specific suggestions for English teachers and schools in China at the micro level in combination with literature and related hotspots.The results of the study contribute to an understanding of the general law of the professional development of English teachers in China.Practical suggestions for pedagogy and future research of English teachers' professional development in China were also identified.