Promoting continuous professional development for English language instructors within a higher education context

The study adopts a mixed method research design to foster English Language instructors' attitude towards professional development, self-efficacy beliefs and reflective thinking. Vygotsky's socio-cultural theory constituted the base and the professional development program was designed accordingly. The participants of the study were nine English Language instructors working at three different universities. Throughout the 16-week program, it was aimed to equip the participants with action research skills to conduct their own study in their own context according to their needs and/or interests. All the participants completed the Plan, Act, Observe and Reflect stages of the Action Research Cycle. Qualitative data collection instruments were semi-structured interviews which were conducted before and after the study, weekly evaluation forms, researcher's field notes, participant diaries and program evaluation forms. Additionally, Teachers' Attitude towards Professional Development Scale and Teachers' Self-efficacy Scale were implemented before and after the study. Wilcoxon and Friedman tests were used for data analysis. The analysis revealed that there was a significant improvement in teachers' attitude towards professional development, their self-efficacy beliefs and reflective thinking after participating in the program. Keywords: Action research, Socio-cultural perspective, Continuous professional development