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One of the themes of this research is that change and development are synonymous in some respects, but quite different in others. Change and development are used throughout the thesis because they shared some features at certain points in the process of change in Chinese English teachers' behaviour and the process of teacher development in China.
The words "change" and "development" in dictionaries both have the meaning of making or becoming different, but "development" has the meaning of coming to a more advanced or expanded stage, whereas "change" has the meaning of replacing, transforming and substituting, but not necessarily advancing.
Synonyms provided for "change" by Collins English Language Dictionary (1987) indicate that change can be a continuum, ranging from gradual change such as "metamorphosis," a big change such as "reform," and a little change such as "modification" and "moderation." Change can be a partial change, such as "alter" and "amend." Change can be a complete change, such as "substitution," "revolution," "replacement," and "transformation." "Change" is also regarded as one of the synonyms for "development" ( Oxford Advanced Learners Dictionary , 1995), but "development" has the connotation of "improvement." Specifically it has the additional meaning of growth, expanding and advancement. So development involves change but change doesn't necessarily include development.
In this research, "development" focuses more on the growth and advancement of the specific field, i. e., TEFL and English Language Teacher Education (ELTE). It involves a specific group of teachers', English teachers' in China, who were involved in this research. However, while development is the main concern of the research, other changes have to be taken into consideration. This is because change and development are like twins, for they always accompany each other, though their movement might be in different directions. Development is always moving forward, but change can be directed backwards or even try to stop the development.
Since change is more complicated and more diverse, understanding the nature of change becomes the first task of this research. There is a large amount of literature on change in different disciplines (Kuhn, 1970; Watzlawick, Weakland & Fisch, 1974; Fullan & Stiegelbauer, 1991; Dawson, 1994; Morrison, 1998), but the focus of this research is on understanding changes in education and in teachers'. There is a strong movement in education for the development of schools and teacher development (Fullan & Stiegelbauer, 1991; Fullan 1993; Fullan, 1999; Fullan & Hargreaves, 1992; Guskey & Huberman, 1995), but change and development are intertwined throughout the research because some changes simply are not development. To be specific, change and development in this research share the following features.
Change and development are about learning, i. e., learning to be different;
Change and development vary in terms of pace and amount, and there are different types of change and development at different stages;
Change and development start from problems or external influences, but the solution might cause new problems. This indicates that change and development are on-going processes;
Change and development are both step-by-step processes as well as final products;
Change and development do not happen in a vacuum but in an ecological system, i. e., in a specific context;
Change and development are usually not desired. People would normally reject or resist any change, and development is often regarded as unnecessary unless it leads to progress.
These features can help with our understanding when we take a close look at the changes and developments of TEFL in China and TEFL teachers' who are involved in this research. Also, such a close look helps to show how changes and development are handled in such a huge country as China and to provide practical insights into the attempts to bring about change and development in ELT in China.