IMPACT OF TRAINING ENGLISH FOR TEACHING AS ENGLISH FOR SPECIFIC PURPOSES FOR EFL TEACHERS

Since the English language the teacher uses in EFL classrooms has a number of particular functions and features which are not always shared by general English, English-for-teaching has been considered as a type of English for specific purposes (Cullen, 1998; Freeman et al., 2015; Freeman, 2016, 2017; Pham, 2018). While much research has been conducted on developing general English proficiency for nonnative EFL teachers, little on the training of English-for-teaching proficiency for EFL teachers and its impact has been found. This study investigates secondary EFL teachers’ perceptions of the changes they made as a result of English-for-teaching proficiency training. It also explores how these teachers maintain English-for-teaching proficiency in a context where resources required for substantiable professional development are scarce. Drawn on the data provided by means of questionnaire from 150 EFL teachers at CEFR-C1 level, 58 reflective reports and 24 interviews, the findings have revealed that the training has led to practical, meaningful changes to the language the teachers used in their classrooms. The study also shows that despite obtaining a high level of general English proficiency, the teachers still find English-for-Teaching useful to their teaching tasks and it is more likely for them to maintain this type of English. On the basis of the findings, relevant implications to teaching-job-related language proficiency training are made.