ISSN: 2226-6348
Open access
The development of teacher professional competency (TPC) is the key component of teacher development and student outcomes. This study aimed to unveil the factors hindering TPC development of senior high school English as a Foreign Language (EFL) teachers in the pandemic. To this end, this study conducted a questionnaire survey consisting of three aspects: the level of government, the level of school and the individual level. The data were collected by administering a questionnaire to senior high school EFL teachers in Huaibei city, China. The responses of 67 participants were analyzed quantitatively regarding gender, years of teaching experience, job titles and educational background. The results indicated the main hindering factors including no enough policy support and imbalance in the government level, heavy workload, low salary and lack of scientific and reasonable in-service training system in the school level and unsound knowledge structure, unwillingness to engage in educational research, much pressure from life and lack of expert guidance in the individual level. Among them the lack of enough policy support from education authorities, poor working facilities and regulations, and low salary are the key barriers from three aspects respectively. Differences in terms of demographic variables were also discussed. The findings shed light on the multiple barriers and provided insights for why secondary school EFL teachers have not acquired a high level of professional competencies in some fields. Furthermore, the need for focusing on policy or strategies for the TPC development for EFL teachers is underlined.
Agbayahoun, J. P. (2016). Teacher Professional Development: EFL teachers’ experiences in the Republic of Benin. International Journal of English Linguistics, 6(4), 144-152.
Amin, M. (2015a). What makes teachers of EFL professional or unprofessional. Jurnal Pendidikan Humaniora (JPH), 2(4), 294-303.
Amin, M. (2015b). What makes teachers of EFL professional or unprofessional. Jurnal Pendidikan Humaniora, 2(4), 294-303.
Ard?ç, Ö., & Çiftçi, H. (2019). ICT Competence and Needs of Turkish EFL Instructors: The Role of Gender, Institution and Experience. Eurasian Journal of Applied Linguistics, 5(1), 153-173.
Asmari, A. A. (2016). Continuous Professional Development of English Language Teachers Perception and Practices. Advances in Language and Literary Studies, 7(3), 118-123. doi:10.7575/aiac.alls.v.7n.3p.117
Bastos, M., & Araújo e Sá, H. (2015). Pathways to teacher education for intercultural communicative competence: Teachers’ perceptions. The Language Learning Journal, 43(2), 131-147.
Bereczki, E. O., & Karpati, A. (2018). Teachers’ beliefs about creativity and its nurture: A systematic review of the recent research literature. Educational Research Review, 23, 25-56.
Bill, & Foundation, M. G. (2014). Teachers Know Best: Teachers' Views on Professional Development: ERIC Clearinghouse.
Boset, S. A. A., Asmawi, A., & Abedalaziz, N. (2017). The relationship between competency and work motivation of EFL Teachers at Public Secondary Schools in Yemen. Arab World English Journal (AWEJ), 8(4).
Bouslama, A., & Benaissi, F. B. (2018). Intercultural Competence in ELT Contexts: A Study of EFL Teachers’ Perceptions. Arab World English Journal (AWEJ) Volume, 9.
Daniels, E. (2017). Curricular factors in middle school teachers’ motivation to become and remain effective. RMLE Online, 40(5), 1-14.
Education, M. O. (2012). Specialty Standards for Middle School Teachers In. Beijing.
Enever, J. (2014). Primary English teacher education in Europe. ELT Journal, 68(3), 231-242.
Fan, Y. (2018). A Survey on the Current Situation of the Professional Development of High School English Teachers. (Master's Degree Master ), Ningxia normal university, Cnki database.
Gemeda, F. T., Fiorucci, M., & Catarci, M. (2014). Teachers’ professional development in schools: Rhetoric versus reality. Professional Development in Education, 40(1), 71-88.
Goodwin, R. (2018). Language Proficiency and Students Behavior in the Classroom: A Comparative Study. Modern journal of language teaching methods, 8(1), 91-103.
Guo, Y. (2017). A Survey on the Professional Development of High School English Teachers in Jinzhou City. (Master's Degree), Bohai university, Cnki database.
He, B. (2017). A Survey on the Current Status of the Professional Development of High School English Teachers. (Master's Degree), Jiangxi Normal University, Cnki database.
Huang, S.-H., & Yang, L.-C. (2018). Teachers' Needs in the Advancement of Communicative Language Teaching (CLT) in Taiwan. TESOL International Journal, 13(1), 100-117.
Irmawati, D. K., Widiati, U., & Cahyono, B. Y. (2017). How Do Indonesian Professional English Teachers Develop Their Pedagogical Competence in Teaching Implementation?
Janchiv, P., & Kang, S.-M. (2018). Identifying the Professional Development Needs of EFL Secondary School Teachers: A Case Study in Mongolia. ??? ??(49), 463-486.
Jiang, Y. (2019). A Survey on the Key Competence of High School English Teachers. (Master's Degree), Minnan Normal University, Cnki database.
Karavas, E. (2014). Implementing innovation in primary EFL: A case study in Greece. ELT Journal, 68(3), 243-253.
Katane, I., & Selvi, K. (2006). Teacher competence and further education as priorities for sustainable development of rural school in Latvia. Journal of teacher education and Training, 6(2006), 41-59.
Kosgei, K. K. (2015). Challenges facing staff development and training: A survey of secondary schools in Kericho County. International Journal of Humanities and Social Science Invention, 4(2), 34-47.
Li, D. (2012). Research on the Professional Development of Junior Middle School English Teachers: Present Situation and Countermeasures. Journal of Hebei Normal University (Educational Science Edition), 6.
Li, Q. (2015). An Analysis on the Professional Competence of English Teachers in Nanchang Municipal High Schools. English Teaching and Research in Primary and Secondary Schools(F09), 27-30.
Liang, D. (2019). A Study on the Status and Improvement Strategies of High School English Teachers' Professional Competence. (Master's Degree), Kashgar University, Cnki database.
Liu, W. (2018). A Research on the Status of Professional Development of English Teachers in County High Schools. Hebei Normal University, Cnki database.
Ma, J. (2016). A Survey on the Current Teaching Knowledge of Middle School English Teachers. (Master's Degree), Ningxia Normal University, Cnki database.
Marcellino, M. (2015). English language teaching in Indonesia: A continuous challenge in education and cultural diversity. Teflin Journal, 19(1), 57-69.
Mone. (2017). Generic Teacher Competences. General Directorate of Teacher Training and Education.
Muhammad, N. F. H., & Bardakç?, M. (2019). Iraqi EFL Teachers’ Assessment Literacy: Perceptions and Practices. Arab World English Journal (AWEJ) Volume, 10.
Nghia, T. L. H. (2015). Vietnamese students’ perception of English teacher qualities: Implications for teacher professional development. International Journal of Academic Research in Education and Review, 3(1), 7-19.
Nhan, D. V. H. (2018). The government’s policy on EFL teacher professional development: Opportunities and challenges for the Mekong Delta.
Panggua, S., Wello, B., Jabu, B., & Macdonald, D. (2018). Self-Assessed Professional Competence of the High School EFL Teachers in Toraja Indonesia. International Journal of English Linguistics, 8(2), 25-34.
Quan, Y. (2019). Research on the Status, Problems and Countermeasures of Teaching Design Ability of High School English Teachers. (Master's Degree), Tianshui Normal University, Cnki database.
Roopa, S., & Rani, M. (2012). Questionnaire designing for a survey. Journal of Indian Orthodontic Society, 46(4_suppl1), 273-277.
Sprott, R. A. (2019). Factors that foster and deter advanced teachers’ professional development. Teaching and Teacher Education, 77, 321-331.
Sulistiyo, U. (2016). English language teaching and efl teacher competence in indonesia. Proceedings of ISELT FBS Universitas Negeri Padang, 4(2), 396-406.
Sun, Q., & Xu, X. (2020). A Meta-analysis on EFL Teacher Professional Development in China. Journal of Huaibei Vocational and Technical College, 19(03), 33-37. doi:10.16279/j.cnki.cn34-1214/z.2020.03.011
Tambunan, A. R. S., Hamied, F. A., & Sundayana, W. (2018). EFL teachers’ motivation and competence in an Indonesian context as assessed within the framework of Maslow’s and Herberg’s theories. Indonesian Journal of Applied Linguistics, 8(1), 68-78.
Tan, Y. (2017). A Survey on the Professional Development of High School English Teachers. (Master's Degree), Guangzhou University, Cnki database.
Tarwiyah, S., Bharati, L., Anggani, D., & Sutopo, D. (2018). Professional Learning through Coaching: toward the Enhancement of the Teachers’ Pedagogical Competence. Arab World English Journal (AWEJ) Volume, 9.
Valmori, L., & De Costa, P. I. (2016). How do foreign language teachers maintain their proficiency? A grounded theory investigation. System, 57, 98-108.
Wang, C. (2017). An Investigation on the Status of Professional Development of High School English Teachers Under the New Curriculum Standards and Countermeasures. (Master's Degree), Gannan Normal University, Cnki database.
Wang, Y., & Zhang, Z. (2015). A Review of the Current Situation of Professional Development of English Teachers in the Southeastern Mountainous Areas of Jilin Province. Adult Education In China(5), 89-90.
Yang, H. (2015). Research on Scientific Research Ability of Middle School English Teachers in Shaanxi Province and Strategies for Promoting Professional Development. Journal of Knowledge Economy(12), 149-150.
Yang, Y. (2015). A Study on Teacher Quality of English Teachers in Rural High Schools: Problems and Countermeasures. (Master's Degree), Suzhou University Cnki database.
Young, M. (1998). Rethinking teacher education for a global future: Lessons from the English. Journal of Education for Teaching, 24(1), 51-62.
Yumru, H. (2015). EFL teachers’ preferences for teacher learning activities in a professional development course. Procedia-Social and Behavioral Sciences, 199, 178-183.
Zein, S. (2016). Factors affecting the professional development of elementary English teachers. Professional Development in Education, 42(3), 423-440.
Zhang, Y. (2017). A Study on ESL Teachers' Intercultural Communication Competence. English Language Teaching, 10(11), 229-235.
Zhang, Y., & Feng, G. (2017). Professional Development of Middle School English Teachers Based on Subject Core Competencies. Journal of English Square, 12.
Zhao, J., Joshi, R. M., Dixon, L. Q., & Huang, L. (2016). Chinese EFL teachers’ knowledge of basic language constructs and their self-perceived teaching abilities. Annals of dyslexia, 66(1), 127-146.
Zhao, W. (2017). Teacher Competency Training: Current Situation, Problems and Countermeasures -- A Case Study of Secondary School English Teachers. Adult Education In China(18), 147-151.
In-Text Citation: (Sun & Sihes, 2022)
To Cite this Article: Sun, Q., & Sihes, A. J. Bin. (2022). Factors Hindering Professional Competency Development of Senior High School EFL Teachers in the Covid-19 Era. International Journal of Academic Research in Progressive Education and Development, 11(2), 242–256.
Copyright: © 2022 The Author(s)
Published by Human Resource Management Academic Research Society (www.hrmars.com)
This article is published under the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY 4.0) license. Anyone may reproduce, distribute, translate and create derivative works of this article (for both commercial and non-commercial purposes), subject to full attribution to the original publication and authors. The full terms of this license may be seen at: http://creativecommons.org/licences/by/4.0/legalcode