Chapter One A Study of English Language Teachers'Constructions of Their Classroom Practices 1
1．Introduction 1
2．Research on Teacher Cognition:A Brief Overview 3
3．Research on Teacher Beliefs 5
3.1 Confusing terminology 6
3.2 Differentiating beliefs from knowledge-is it possible? 8
3.3 Some consensus reached in the research on teacher beliefs 9
3.4 Research on teacher beliefs at tertiary level-a problem with researching only the espoused theories of action 10
4．Research on the Beliefs and Practices of Language Teachers 11
4.1 Existing research on language teacher beliefs in direct relation to observed classroom practices 11
4.2 The value of researching teachers'constructions of their actual classroom practices 16
4.3 The concept of teaching principles 17
5．Justification for the Present Study 19
5.1 The framework of teaching principles 19
5.2 The China context 20
6．Significance of the Present Study 22
6.1 Teachers'professional development 22
6.2 Improvement/change in teaching practice 23
6.3 Teacher leadership 24
7．Purpose Statement and Research Questions 25
8．Conclusion 26
Chapter Two Studying English Language Teachers'Constructions of Their Classroom Practices:Research Approach and Methods 28
1．Introduction 28
2．Philosophieal Assumptions 29
3．Locating the Research in a Particular Tradition 30
4．Research Design 36
4.1 Ethics 36
4.2 Sampling 38
4.3 The role of the researcher 40
4.4 Methods of data collection 42
1）The observation 42
2）The interview 44
4.5 Data collection procedure 48
1）The pilot study 48
2）Data collection procedure 50
4.6 Data analysis process 54
4.7 Generalisability,reliability and validity 58
1）Generalisability 59
2）Reliability 60
3）Validity 61
5．The Research Process-A Learning Process 63
6．The Research Context and the Participants 66
6.1 ELT in China 66
1）A brief overview of ELT in China 67
2）Learning English in China 67
3）New emphases in ELT in China 68
4）Tertiary ELT teacher development in China 69
6.2 The researched university,its English Department and the participants 70
7．Conclusion 74
Chapter Three Teachers'Teaching Principles and Strategic Intentions 77
1．Introduction 77
2．Feng Lin's Case as an Illustration 78
2.1 Making sense of classroom work:classroom practices and their explanations 78
2.2 The emergence of teaching principles and strategic intentions 84
3．Ren Jie's Case-Another Example 90
3.1 Making sense of classroom work:classroom practices and their explanations 90
3.2 The emergence of teaching principles and strategic intentions 96
4．Fen Fang's Case-A Further Illustration 102
4.1 Making sense of classroom work:classroom practicas and their explanations 102
4.2 The emergence of teaching principles and strategic intentions 107
5．The Identification of Teaching Principles and Strategic Intentions-Criteria and Verifications 113
6．Conclusion 115
Chapter Four Teachers'Beliefs,Perceptions of the Teaching Context,and Their Teaching Principles and Strategic Intentions 116
1．Introduction 116
2．The Framework of Teaching Principles and Strategic Intentions 116
3．The Guiding Principle 118
3.1 A concern with developing students'language ability 120
1）Developing students'ability to use English-a shared guiding principle 120
2）Cultivating students'higher ability in English learning-Fen Fang's guiding principle 126
3）Improving students'practical ability to write in English-Lan Min's guiding principle 130
3.2 A concern with the affective engagement of students 130
Achievement motivation-Kai Yu's case 131
3.3 A concern with the nature of the subject 138
3.4 Emergent themes and patterns 143
4．The Central Principle 145
4.1 The subject specific nature of the central principle 145
4.2 The belief-laden feature of the central principle 147
4.3 An explanation on presentation 147
4.4 The central principles of the teachers sharing the same guiding principle 150
1）Giving students the central role in class-Feng Lin's case 150
2）Rotating the central role in class between teacher and students-the cases of Mei Qin and Pan Yuan 159
3）Enhancing language input and focusing on sentences-the cases of Su Bin and Jia Hua 165
a）Enhancing language input-Su Bin's case 166
b）Focusing on the sentences-Jia Hua's case 169
4）Summarising the five cases 173
4.5 The emotional dimension of teaching-the cases of Ren Jie and Fen Fang 177
1）Achieving a harmonious relationship with students-Ren Jie's case 179
2）Teaching with enthusiasm-Fen Fang's case 183
3）Surnmarising the two cases 189
4.6 Emergent themes and patterns 190
5．The Strategic Intentions 193
5.1 Encourage student learning and help students build confidence in learning 194
1）As a shared strategic intention by teachers with the guiding principle of developing students'ability to use English and the central principle focusing on teacher/student role 194
2）As a shared strategic intention by the teachers whose central principles reflect the emotional side of teaching 199
5.2 Use lecture mode for teaching 199
5.3 Involve all students into class activities 201
1）As a shared strategic intention by the teachers whose central principles reflect the emotional side of teaching 202
2）Comparing the intention to involve all students into class activities and the intention to train students to take the initiative in leading and joining the activities 203
5.4 Provide opportunities for students to use English 205
5.5 Create and maintain a classroom atmosphere conducive to learning 207
5.6 Emphasise and facilitate memorisation 208
5.7 Emergent themes and patterns 210
6．A Holistic View of the Teachers'Frameworks of Teaching Principles and Strategic Intentions 212
6.1 The framework and the relationships between its components 212
6.2 The individual feature of the teacher's teaching principles and strategic intentions 215
6.3 A dynamic model of teacher conceptualizations and classroom practices 216
1）Interactions between teacher conceptualisationsteachers'personal history and experiences,and the contexts in which they work 217
2）Interactions embedded in the process of teachers'conceptualisations of their classroom work 220
3）Interactions embedded within the dynamic model of teacher conceptualisations and classroom practices 222
7．Conclusion 225
Chapter Five Conclusion 227
1．Introduction 227
2．Summary of Main Findings 227
2.1 The teachers'frameworks of classroom work 229
2.2 The teachers'guiding principles 230
2.3 The teachers'central principles 232
2.4 The teachers'most shared strategic intentions 234
2.5 Individuality in the teacher's teaching principles and strategic intentions 235
2.6 What explain the teachers'teaching principles and strategic intentions 236
2.7 The important influence of principles on practices 237
2.8 Emotions in teaching:additional findings emerging from the study 239
3．Discussions 246
3.1 Addressing practices through a focus on teacher conceptualisations-the importance of articulation and reflection 246
1）The importance of articulation and reflection for teachers'professional development 246
2）Articulation and reflection as means to exercise teacher leadership 250
3.2 Changing teaching principles-is it possible? 252
3.3 Promoting good teaching-the need to sustain positive emotions 255
4．Contribution to Existing Knowledge 257
5．Limitations of the Research and Suggestions for Further Research 260
6．Final Words 263
References 266
Appendix A Interview Guide 284
Appendix B Observation Notes(an example) 285
Appendix C Interview Transcript(an example) 290
Appendix D Kai Yu's Classroom Practices and Her Sense-making of the Practices 313
Appendix E Yu Sen's Classroom Practices and His Sense-making of the Practices 315
Appendix F Lan Min's Classroom Practices and Her Sense-making of the Practices 317
Appendix G Mei Qin's Classroom Practices and Her Sense-making of the Practices 319
Appendix H Pan Yuan's Classroom Practices and Her Sense-making of the Practices 322
Appendix I Su Bin's Classroom Practices and Her Sense-making of the Practices 325
Appendix J Jia Hua's Classroom Practices and His Sense-making of the Practices 327
Table 1 Existing research on language teachers'constructions of classroom practices 12
Table 2 A section of Fen Fang's lesson record 51
Table 3 A brief profile of the participants 76
Table 4 Feng Lin's classroom practices and his sense-making of the practices 79
Table 5 Ren Jie's classroom practices and his sense-making of the practices 91
Table 6 Fen Fang's classroom practices and his sense-making of the practices 103
Table 7 The guiding principles of the participants 119
Table 8 The central principles of the participants 146
Table 9 The six strategic intentions shared by three and 3+ teachers 195
Table 10 The guiding and central principles of the teachers who share the strategic intention of'Encourage student learning and help students build confidence in learning' 196
Table 11 The guiding and central principles of the teachers who share the strategic intention of'Use lecture mode for teaching' 200
Table 12 The guiding and central principles of the teachers who share the strategic intention of'Involve all students into class activities' 201
Table 13 The guiding and central principles of the teachers who share the strategic intention of'Provide opportunities for students to use English' 205
Table 14 The guiding and central principles of the teachers who share the strategic intention of'Create and maintain a classroom atmosphere conducive to learning' 207
Table 15 The guiding and central principles of the teachers who share the strategic intention of'Emphasise and facilitate memorisation' 209
Figure 1 The framework of Feng Lin's classroom work:teaching principles and strategic intentions 87
Figure 2 The framework of Ren Jie's classroom work:teaching principles and strategic intentions 100
Figure 3 The framework of Fen Fang's classroom work:teaching principles and strategic intentions 111
Figure 4 The framework of Kai Yu's classroom work:teaching principles and strategic intentions 135
Figure 5 The framework of Yu Sen's classroom work:teaching principles and strategic intentions 139
Figure 6 The framework of Lan Min's classroom work:teaching principles and strategic intentions 141
Figure 7 The framework of Mei Qin's classroom work:teaching principles and strategic intentions 160
Figure 8 The framework of Pan Yuan's classroom work:teaching principles and strategic intentions 161
Figure 9 The framework of Su Bin's classroom work:teaching principles and strategic intentions 166
Figure 10 The framework of Jia Hua's classroom work:teaching principles and strategic intentions 170
Figure 11 A dynamic model of teacher conceptualisations and classroom practices 218