A Study On The Effects Of Teaching Practicum On Pre-service English Teacher Identity Construction

Since the 21 st century,the construction of teacher identity has become a key issue of teacher development research in the world.Teachers’ understanding of self-image and their roles in workplace is closely related to the construction of teachers’ identity,which also affects teachers’ pedagogical practice.The development of pre-service teacher identity exerts a far-reaching influence on their career development and planning.When engaged in teaching practicum,pre-service teachers have opportunities to teach students,and get to know professional routines,through which they form or adjust their self-image and role orientation at school.Most of research studies on the identity of pre-service English teachers at home and abroad are narrative studies,which focus on individual cases.Some studies use questionnaires to explore pre-service English teachers’ identity.However,studies which combine quantitative and qualitative research methods are inadequate.This research adopts questionnaires,interviews and text analysis to explore the effects of teaching practicum on the identity construction of pre-service English teachers.Meanwhile,this research also analyzes the influencing factors of their identity construction.The findings show that（1）after teaching practicum,pre-service English teachers enhanced their professional identity,but the improvement of different dimensions of identity is not balanced.（2）During the teaching practicum,the pre-service English teacher identity construction was changing in different phases,which went through the process of pre-construction,construction,and reconstruction.Faced with difficulties and challenges,some pre-service English teachers experienced role conflicts in the workplace.They adjusted and reconstructed their own identity.（3）Pre-service English teachers faced clashes between different roles.They needed to deal with multiple tasks and had difficulty managing role shifting from student to teacher.（4）The identity construction of pre-service English teachers during teaching practicum was affected by personal and external factors.Pre-service teachers’ monitors played the most important role in the construction of identity.Based on the above research findings,the author summarizes some implications for pre-service English teachers,primary and secondary schools,and normal universities,with a view to promoting the development of pre-service English teacher identity.