The Dynamism of Teachers＇ Identity： The Case of Iranian EFL Teachers

Recent conceptualizations of professional identity as an ongoing process of interpretation and re-interpretation of experiences demonstrate that it is dynamic and subject to an ongoing learning process. In effect, identity is essentially viewed as fluid, dynamic, recursive, and discursive process in which statements about actions are translated into statements about states, and vice versa. Having these standpoints in mind, the present paper aims at depicting the profile of English as a foreign language （EFL） teachers＇ professional identity. The second purpose of this study is to examine the relationships among the components of teachers＇ professional identity as measured by Kao and Lin＇s （2015） model comprising six latent factors of teachers＇ professional identity： self-expectation （SE）, teachers＇ duties （TD）, external influential factors （EF）, pedagogy （PE）, instructional skills and knowledge （SK）, and teachers＇ citizenship behavior （CB）. This study also sought to scrutinize the dynamics of teachers＇ identity in accordance with their teaching experience, gender, and educational level. For these purposes, 110 EFL teachers were chosen from different language institutes in Mashhad, a city in northeastern Iran. The results indicated that SE received the highest value and EF obtained the lowest mean score in our sample. The highest correlation was observed between SK and PE, followed by the relationship between TD and PE. The results indicated that there were significant correlations between teachers＇ teaching experience and all the teachers＇ identity components. It was also found that there were statistically significant differences between male and females in four components of identity as follows： TD, PE, SK, and CB. The results showed that there were variations in teacher identity with regards to their educational level.

Teacher Identity is Awakened through Narrative Inquiry and Reflection

This thesis is a story of discovery based on narrative inquiry and reflection of researcher's and her partner's experience of 8 classes in a vocational school. During this process, researcher's teacher identity is awakened when facing challenges and puzzles and transforms later. From observation, journal reflections, and conversation with the partner, this thesis elicits that a good teacher has a power of connectness, teaches as telling a story and teaches who we are, which provides insight into how a student teacher think, reflect and take actions especially for those who are dedicated to teaching profession and are striving to the goal. More to the point, this thesis reveals that learning to teach is a highly complicated process and needs enough courage to teach.

How to Cultivate an Excellent English-Teacher-in-Future?-A Study on the Changes on Pre-service Language Teacher Identity During the Practicum

For the teacher’s professional development,identity plays a crucial role in promoting the teacher’s maturity and skills.For pre-service teachers,the level of identity determines whether they are willing or even determined to take teaching as their future career,and also represents whether their professional development is smooth.Therefore,the research on pre-service teachers’identity is of great significance.Combining quantitative analysis and qualitative analysis,this study aims to explore whether the identity of pre-service English teachers changes before and after the practicum and the influencing factors during the practicum through questionnaire surveys and semi-structured interviews.Based on the four dimensions of identity proposed by Xun,Sun,and Peng(2014),this study investigated the juniors before their practice and the seniors who had practiced for two months.It is found that the scores of careers belonging,foreign language teaching belief,English proficiency,work involvement,professional behaviour tendency,and foreign language teaching reform are higher than those of the students before the practicum.Through semi-structured interviews,it can be concluded that the factors affecting identity include personal factors,mentor factors,job content,and organizational support factors.According to the survey results,this study puts forward corresponding suggestions to improve the positive impact of practicum on students’identity.

A Lonely Journey:An Autoethnography of the Fifteen-Year Identity Construction of a Female ESP Teacher in China

This autoethnographic study explores from a sociocultural perspective the author’s identity construction journey as a female English-for-specific-purposes(ESP)teacher at a university in China for more than 15 years.It delves into the author’s evolving exercise between teacher agency and language policy within both institutional and national contexts.The author aims to voice for marginalized ESP teachers and create a space for them to better negotiate with English-for-general-purposes(EGP)colleagues,academic staff,and policy makers.This study highlights the significance of autoethnography in teacher identity research,particularly for niche ESP teachers who direct novel enterprises through bottom-up implementation.Furthermore,the author emphasizes humanism behind ESP instruction,which significantly expands the view that the ESP features instrumental value.She also advocates for comprehensive support to sustain ESP teaching innovation,ESP teachers’identity construction,and their professional development.These insights have implications for all accountable parties in the context of educational reform to enable constructive negotiation,for ESP teachers to develop their sense of empowerment,and for inclusive education to become more accessible.

Exploring Researcher Identity Construction of University EFL Teachers in China

Based on the narratives of four Chinese university EFL teachers＇ research experiences, this study reports on the dynamic construction of their researcher identities and the crucial socioinstitutional and individual factors that have afforded and constrained researcher identity construction. The results presented different trajectories of researcher identity construction through the EFL teachers＇ three stages of research experiences （beginning, stagnation/ development, and struggle stages） in their professional lives. Academic learning contexts such as Master＇s and PhD programs were shown to be replete with factors that contributed to the development of researcher identity, while the institutional context and the broad social context in China were exposed to be greatly constraining. Motivation, publications, academic qualifications, and networking with researchers were four important individual factors that impacted the EFL teachers＇ researcher identity construction, The findings suggest that Chinese EFL teachers raise awareness of their researcher identities, make continuous critical reflections, and exercise agency to seek opportunities for development while governments and institutions should reform the current educational and promotion systems to support EFL teachers＇ research engagement.

Three Approaches to the Inquiry into Teacher Identity: A Narrative Review Enlightened by Habermas's Human Interests

Purpose:This paper attempts to review and conceptualize how different scholars approach research on teacher identity through the lens of three human interests defined by Jurgen Habermas.Design/Approach/Methods:This literature review,guided by Habermas's three human interests,illustrates the characteristics of three different approaches to the inquiry into teacher identity.Findings:This paper summarizes three approaches to researching teacher identity and their characteristics,namely the technical approach,the practical approach,and the critical approach.The implications for future research and teacher development are also discussed.Originality/Value:By incorporating Habermas's three human interests into teacher identity inquiries,this article offers a theoretical narrative review of the approaches to investigating teacher identity.Strengths and weaknesses of each approach as well as the possibility of a combined application of different approaches provide an original discussion of teacher identity research.

A study on pertinent influencing factors on teachers’professional identity

In order to evaluate the present state of teachers’professional identity(TPI),177 teachers in primary and secondary schools in Zibo of Shandong Province of China were surveyed by a questionnaire designed by the authors.The results reveals:(1)high professional identity for the overall level of teachers;(2)significant difference in genders and titles of professional positions;(3)significant difference between primary and secondary school teachers;(4)significant difference in professional motivations and satisfaction degrees of salaries among teachers.

An Empirical Study on the Relationship Between Chinese Teachers' Attitudes Toward Identity and Teacher Autonomy

Teacher identity formation provides a direction for the development of autonomy(Huang&Benson,2013).However,the process of identity formation is complex and how this process influences teacher autonomy has not been sufficiently studied.To contribute to knowledge in this field,the present study investigated the relationship between teachers’attitudes toward teacher identity and teacher autonomy.We first observed 14 Chinese College English teachers’classroom teaching.Following that,we conducted stimulated recall interviews with all the teachers to pinpoint their autonomous practices.Finally,we conducted semi-structured interviews to investigate these teachers’attitudes toward their identities.One of the main findings was that the teachers who held a positive attitude toward their professional identity were more autonomous in their teaching practices than those with a negative attitude.The findings invite us to conclude that teachers’attitudes toward their professional identity are positively associated with teacher autonomy.

Teaching to, with, and Against the Test: Language Teaching and Teacher Identity Under Institutional Neoliberalization

Neoliberalism has emerged as a keyword that captures some core features of global economic and educational reforms in recent years. This paper reports a linguistic ethnographic study of how a Chinese language teacher was engaged with neoliberal discourses on language education in and out of the classroom in a suburban public middle school in China, with an attempt to illuminate the complexity of language education in a neoliberal context. The analysis shows three general identity positions-as an opponent, a conformist, and a pragmatist-across the identification trajectory of the focal language teacher through the fieldwork period, in relation to neoliberal exam-oriented education and her various ways of engaging with exam discourses in her language classrooms. This inquiry argues for the perspective of unpredictability and complexity as an alternative that goes beyond the current "deterministic neoliberalism" in understanding the dynamics of neoliberalization in language education, language teaching, and teacher identity formation.

Technology Integration into the Language Classroom:Developmental Trajectory of Beginning Teachers

This study adds to the current literature on teacher technology integration with an investigation into five beginning teachers’technology use in the language classroom in their first two career-entry years.The longitudinal interview study reveals that these teachers went through a developmental trajectory of technology use towards using it for more diversified instructional purposes and with a greater orientation towards student learning over the years.The study also finds that the teachers’developing understanding of technology use intertwined with their growing teaching competency and identity.It further finds that school culture not only had a direct influence on their technology use but also moderated the influence of teaching competency and identity on the nature of this technology use.This study concludes with suggestions for promoting research on the support needed for beginning teachers and the school culture in technology use.

“I Cannot Dance Upon My Toes”: A Case Study Into Teacher Learning Through Participating in an English Teaching Contest in China

The professional development of College English （CE） teachers in China has received considerable attention due to their responsibility in preparing university graduates for adequate English proficiency. Many continuous professional development （CPD） activities have been conducted （e.g., national teaching contest） to improve CE teachers＇ teaching effectiveness, an essential component of teacher learning. However, it has remained unknown concerning how teacher learning takes place in these well-intended CPD activities, and what mediating factors play an important role in teacher learning. To address this gap, this case study reports on a CE teacher＇s （]anna, pseudonym） experience in preparing for and participating in an English teaching contest. Drawing upon multiple sets of data such as teacher reflective journals, interviews, observations of group discussions, and video-recorded teaching demonstration and lesson plan presentation, the findings reveal that teacher learning takes place at a superficial level through legitimate peripheral participation, yet at a deeper level through identity crisis. Vulnerable teacher learning is also identified in the CPD activity, with differentiated learning possibilities created by the tensions between resources and power relations within the community and the teacher＇s conceptions of teaching and learning. The study concludes with implications for research of teacher learning and practice for teacher professional development.

Becoming a Teacher of Business English in China: A Critical Narrative

In the Chinese higher education sector, Business English, a newly emerging discipline, has attracted great attention, and since it was approved officially in 2007, about 400 universities and colleges have offered this degree course to students. Among in-service Business English teachers, some of them have transferred from teaching English for General Purposes. Business English teachers face many changes and challenges to their professional identity, yet few scholars have looked into the identity construction of these teachers. Using critical narrative as a method, this paper closely examines the identity construction experiences of the first author and two other Business English teachers. It is found that the participants, including the first author himself, have endured identity negotiations and various challenges in turning from a teacher of English for General Purposes to a teacher of Business English. These teachers' experiences and their perception of identity construction and professional development throw light on the changing pedagogy and practice of Business English in Chinese universities.

A Bumpy Border Crossing into the Teaching Culture on a U.S.Campus:Experience of a Chinese Faculty Member

Guided by cultural border crossing and teacher identity development theories,this case study explores the bumpy process of a junior Chinese faculty member’s border crossing into the U.S.teaching culture and analyzes the challenges,coping strategies,and consequences of his border crossing on teaching and teacher identity development.The study found the subject demonstrated an active process of adaptation during his border crossing and experienced multifaceted and ongoing identity development in which both Chinese culture and the culture that he embraced played important roles in reshaping and facilitating the development of his professional identity,teacher learning,and teaching practices.