A Study of In-service English Teachers' Beliefs, Difficulties and Problems in Current Teacher Development Programs

The new English curriculum and the new set of textbooks for nine-year compulsory education have been in operation for 10 years, but there are still voices complaining that teachers are making an old-fashioned dress with the new material. Substantive language teaching reform needs to be supported by the willingness and readiness of language teachers. This study was carried out among a group of in-service secondary school English teachers in Guangxi with the intention of finding out their beliefs, their difficulties in implementing CLT, and their problems in current teacher development programs. The results reveal that many in-service English teachers lack training in CLT and that their teaching beliefs need refining. It is suggested that, to make ELT reform more effective, English teachers must be prepared in all aspects and continuing support must be given to them. Thus reform in teacher development is required.