Chapter 1 Introduction
1.1 Reasons for the Present Study
College English teachers of post-80s generation are those who were bombetweenl980 to 1989. Now their ages range from 23 to 33. According to China StatisticalYearbook, about 204 million people were bom between the years 1980 to 1989. A studyshows that，by counting the average time of Master and PHD courses，it is not before thatthe post-80s PHD graduates started to enter colleges and universities and turn into teachersin their field (Lei Yu，2010). A research also discloses that the group of young post-8Osgeneration is not only becoming the new blood of schools, but also becoming the one whichbears pioneering spirit in the teacher force (Xiang Dong，2012). With the post-80sgeneration teachers joining the existing teacher team, the teacher force will be stronglyenhanced, and a new mainstay of the teacher's force formed by the post-80s generationteachers will be soon seen in the near future. The study on College English teachers' job burnout has attracted numerousresearchers' attention. Findings continually emerged. Implications can be found fromprevious researches and the specific details can be summarized as follows:The research of burnout has extended to teaching area since the 1980's. Till the1990s，burnout has already become an outstanding problem in education circle in theworld. Job burnout threatens teachers' health and stability as well as teaching quality,which directly develops negative effects on teachers and students (Anderson, 1984). Theoutstanding symptoms about teachers' job burnout in teaching are: lack of work ethic andprofessional ethic; inappropriate teaching methods; slovenly teaching style; being tired ofteaching and trying to find another job (Farber, 1991).
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1.2 Purpose and Significance of the Present Research
Based on previous studies, this thesis aims to survey and analyze the condition of jobburnout of college English teachers of post-80s generation in Guilin & Nanning, Guangxi(Zhuang Autonomous Region) by means of questionnaires and interview, and to seekfeasible suggestions for future improvement. More specifically, the present study attemptsto answer the following questions;
1. What is the general situation of job bumout of college English teachers of post-80sgeneration?
2. What are the factors that affect job bumout of college English teachers of post-80sgeneration?
The significances of the study are as follows.Theoretically, it enriches the relevant researches at home and abroad. Many theoretical and empirical studies show that teachers' job burnout is a common phenomenon. Based onthe research mentioned above，research abroad on teachers' job burnout is more mature, butthere are still some problems to be solved in the field of empirical research. Although the“80 s" is a group of people who were bom after the year 1980 and they are a unique Chinesesocial group as well，the researches on the “80 s，，teachers' job burnout abroad are not rich.In other words, the researches on "80s" teachers' job burnout are lacking and poorlyunderstood，especially for teachers involved in a certain subject. Researches on “80s”college English teachers' job burnout are rare and worth exploring and researching.Therefore, to solve the problems of "80s" teachers' job burnout could provide certain basisand reference for only-one child and college English teachers' job burnout research.
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Chapter 2 Literature Review
2.1 Description of Job Burnout
In 1974，American foundation clinical psychology specialist J. Freudenberger (1974)first brought the concept of job bumout into psychology research. He thinks bumout is theexhausted mental and physiology state because the long-term work pressure cannot getalleviated effectively. One's working ability decreases, working enthusiasm loses and he orshe is apathetic to work and lacks a sense of achievement.From the previous research, Maslach & Jackson (1986) pointed out emotionalexhaustion, depersonalization, a sense of reduced personal accomplishment, chronicfatigue，depletion of feelings and a desire to withdraw were symptoms of burnout. Theyconcludes that bumout is a loss of idealism and enthusiasm about work or a role and is “agradual process of disillusionment”. Their definition of bumout that emotional exhaustion,depersonalization and a sense of reduced personal accomplishment are the measuresconfirming bumout is widely accepted.Later, Barry A. Farber (1991) defines job bumout as a work-related syndrome thatstems from an individual's perception of a significant discrepancy between input andoutput. This perception is influenced by individual，organizational, and social factors.
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2.2 Theoretical Basis of the Present Study
Theory of Teacher Career Cycle was put forward by Ralph Fessler in 1985. He firstproposed this idea in an article named A Model for Teacher Professional Growth andDevelopment. Teachers' development was divided into eight periods by it. Pre-service is a preparation for a specific professional role. Usually, it is a period ofteacher training in university or normal college. And this offers the teacher a good chanceto adapt new assignments, either by attending a higher education institution or as part ofstaff development within the work setting. Enthusiastic and growing is a period that teachers have reached a high level ofcompetence but continue to progress as professionals. Teachers usually present as lovingtheir jobs, looking forward to going to school and to the interaction with their students;constantly seeking new ways to enrich their teaching; being supportive and helpful inidentifying appropriate in-service education activities for their schools.
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Chapter 3 Methodology ...... 14
3.1 Research Questions...... 14
3.2 Research Design ......14
Chapter 4 Results and Discussion...... 18
4.1 General Situation of Job Burnout of College...... 18
4.2 Differences of Job Burnout of College English Teachers......24
4.3 Factors Affecting Job Burnout of College English ....37
Chapter 5 Implications of the Present Study...... 47
5.1 Implications for the College English Teachers ofPost-80s Generation...... 47
5.1.1 Optimizing Professional Knowledge and Competence...... 47
5.1.2 Enhancing the Willingness of Teaching...... 48
5.1.3 Strengthening Vocational Development Motivation ......48
5.2 Implications for the Administraton Departments ...... 49
5.3 Implications for the Society....... 55
Chapter 5 Implications of the Present Study
5.1 Implications for the College English Teachers of Post-80s Generation
Harrison (1980) states that job burnout and professional competence are closelyrelated. When their professional knowledge and competence improve, their workingefficiency will enhance and working pressure will decrease. So, improving professionalcompetence is a useful strategy of reducing job burnout of college English teachers ofpost-80s generation.Firstly, college English teaching is a job that requires abundant English professionalknowledge. However, for the post-80s generation who are novice English teachers incollege, they do not have much teaching experience, and are lack of professionalknowledge. When facing great pressure of researches and students whose majors are notEnglish and who show low interest in English, the shortage of professional knowledge andcompetence will lead to the little working efficiency of English teachers of post-80sgeneration in college and have a bad influence on their emotion. The bad emotion isaccumulated for a long time. It will cause the job burnout of English teachers of post-80sgeneration in college. So, enriching professional knowledge is a way of reducing jobburnout. According to the viewpoint of Professor Cheng Xiangming (2003) of PekingUniversity, knowledge can be categorized into theoretical knowledge (knowledge ofsubject matter, teaching methodology, curriculum, pedagogy, psychology and generalculture.) and practical knowledge (knowledge of self, social, interpersonal, situation,strategy, critical reflection and teaching believes).
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Conclusion
This investigation is conducted to look into the situation of job bumout of collegeEnglish teachers of post-80s generation. It aims to explore the whole situation of the jobbumout of college English teachers of post-80s generation and the factors that affect jobbumout of college English of post-80s generation. In this study, the data are collectedthrough the response of the questionnaire: the questionnaire of MBI-ES. 53 college Englishteachers are in the study, among which there are forty-eight females and five males and fourrepresentative universities' college English teachers of post-80s generation in this area areadopted. To some degree, it can represent the situation of job bumout of college Englishteachers of post-80s generation in this area. Through the investigation, the two researchquestions that are proposed at the beginning of this thesis can be answered and the majorfindings are summarized below.
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Reference (omitted)