Teacher professional development(TPD), which is related with teacher education, has been the topic of vital significance in the world educational reform. There are diverse modes and approaches of teacher development, among which, teacher autonomy(TA) is a new concept. It is relatively new and has received insufficient attention in China, especially in vocational colleges. The related research of this kind on English teachers in vocational colleges is far from enough. Based on this situation,some investigations were conducted on the topic of TA among 5 vocational colleges in Kunming, Yunnan Province. By utilizing questionnaires and interviews as the main investigation tools, the present author conducted the survey of the current situation of the English teachers' professional development and the existing problems, aiming at exploring the effective ways of promoting English language teachers'(autonomy) development in the context of vocational colleges.
