Sustainable Professional Development of German Language Teachers in China: Research Assessment and External Research Funding

Siqi Liu, Yu Chen (), Qi Shen () and Xuesong (Andy) Gao
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Siqi Liu: School of Foreign Languages, Tongji University, 1239 Siping Road, Shanghai 200092, China
Yu Chen: School of Foreign Languages, Tongji University, 1239 Siping Road, Shanghai 200092, China
Qi Shen: School of Foreign Languages, Tongji University, 1239 Siping Road, Shanghai 200092, China
Xuesong (Andy) Gao: School of Education, University of New South Wales (UNSW Sydney), Sydney, NSW 2052, Australia

Sustainability, 2022, vol. 14, issue 16, 1-15

Abstract: The academic evaluation of teachers of languages other than English (LOTEs) has been extensively researched, especially from the perspective of academic publications. However, little attention has been paid to another key performance indicator in teacher assessment, namely, external research funding. Focusing on German language teachers (GLTs), this paper adopts a mixed methods approach to investigate the assessment requirements for LOTE teachers in terms of external research funding and the factors that may impact their accomplishments. Based on Bronfenbrenner’s ecological systems theory and conservation of resources theory, we analyzed policy documents from the universities under investigation, examined “German or Germany-related” funding approvals, and conducted semi-structured interviews with eight GLTs to explore the environmental factors (individual context, institutional context, social context, chronological context) that may influence the survival of GLTs in terms of the requirements for external research funding. The findings indicate that factors from each ecological context interact with one another and have a combined influence on GLTs’ external research funding application activity. Moreover, there is an imbalance between the academic demands faced by GLTs and the resource support that is available to them. This imbalance may affect the survival and development of GLTs and is likely to have a continuing influence throughout their career. The study concludes by offering some suggestions at different levels to facilitate the sustainable professional development of GLTs.

Keywords: external research funding; research assessment; German language teachers; professional development; mixed methods (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (3)

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