Exploring English Language Teacher Identity Construction In P.R.China

Language teacher identity research has grown exponentially over the past 15 years.Existing scholarship has proved that the construction of language teacher identity is a multifaceted and constantly shifting process which has been influenced by a wide range of personal,professional and contextual factors.Notwithstanding the copious research on language teacher identity,fewer studies have been conducted to examine secondary EFL teachers' professional identity construction,and little is known about professional identity development of teachers in rural elementary or secondary schools in ethnic minority regions.In order to fill the gaps in literature,this study aims to explore secondary school EFL teachers' professional identity development,and to examine the factors that might influence the process of teacher professional identity construction.This study selects three English teachers from rural secondary schools in Xishuangbanna Dai Autonomous Prefecture as research participants,Yunnan Province,P.R.China.Guided by an integrated theoretical framework(the Identity Formation Theory,the History-in-Person theory,Identity-in-Discourse and Identity-in-Practice),this qualitative case study adopts stimulated-recall interview,non-participant observation,documents and field note as research instruments to generate data.Findings from case studies reveal that for the rural secondary school EFL teachers,their professional identity is an intricate,dynamic and formative process,which has been formed,developed,reshaped and enhanced in teacher's personal and professional experiences.As for the personal dimension,teachers' personal biographies,including critical events,significant others,teacher role models,personal hobbies,earlier language learning experiences have direct connection with the formation of teacher's professional identities.Teachers' professional experiences,including their practicum,reflective classroom practices,school-based peer coaching activities and their attempts in conducting action research have been discovered as powerful forces in shaping EFL teachers' professional self.This study also identifies three major tiers of influencing factors that have affected the participant teachers' construction of professional identity: the local socioeconomic situation and ethnic cultural context as the macro-level;institutional environment,professional training program and courses as the meso-level;teachers' personal qualities including their linguistic competences,teaching beliefs and agentive quality micro-level of influencing factors.This study argues that these influencing factors act as both formative elements and powerful variables in creating and shaping the teachers' professional identity.Findings of this study contribute to the understanding of the complexity of teachers' professional identity development,and provide valuable information for language teaching and language teacher education research.