Narrative Inquiry Into University Efl Teachers' Professional Identity Development

In the context of globalization,talent competition has become increasingly fierce among different nations of the world.Talent cultivation is highly dependent on excellent teachers who always play a critical role in educational process.Nowadays,the Chinese government has attached greater importance to the quality of teaching faculty and put forward the requirement of “construction of the first-class teaching staff”.While teacher identity is the core of teacher quality and one of the most important components of teacher development,therefore it is the premise to construct the first-class teaching staff.Given the theme of this study,the researcher investigated the status quo of university EFL teachers' identity in China,the findings reveal that there still exist some problems in the EFL teaching staff in Chinese higher education,such as: their interdisciplinary knowledge needs to be enriched;their information technology competence waits to be improved;they are suffering huge pressure from educational reform;they are dissatisfied with their low income;the status of English discipline is declining;the phenomenon of teacher burnout is serious;they lack of positive attitude toward research,etc.Based on this background,this dissertation tries to carry out a narrative inquiry of three EFL teachers' professional identity development in higher education,to hear their true voice,aiming at finding their obstacles and opportunities,challenges and choices in the field of teaching,researching,learning,and life,and providing implications for their professional development.This study tries to answer three research questions.(1)What are the processes of the university EFL teachers' identity development?(2)What are the factors that influence university EFL teachers' identity development?(3)How to facilitate university EFL teachers' identity development?The data are mainly from semi-structured interviews,reflective journals and some informal conversations,etc.Within the framework of sociocultural and psychological theories related to identity,the findings indicate that:(1)Similarities and differences are found in the characteristics of the participants' professional identity development.The similarities show that the routes of the participants' professional identity development are quite similar and partly cohere with the phases of teacher growth of Steffy and Wolfe,i.e.novice phase,apprentice phase,professional phase,expert phase;and all the participants have experienced the same transition from teaching practitioner to teacher-researcher,in which teacher learning plays a critical role.The differences lie in the uniqueness of their professional identity development,which is shaped by their school culture contexts,the English courses and their professional experience.(2)Three kinds of developmental patterns are identified in the process of the participants' professional identity development.1)The first kind is“multiple-identity-conflict” pattern,the root of which are the facilitating effect of teacher learning in the earlier period of the participant's professional development,and the impeding effect of the conflict among her multiple identities,i.e.conflict among teaching practitioner,teacher-researcher,team leader and mother,in the latter period of her professional development.2)The second is “identity crisis” pattern,the root of which is the school reform policies which make the participant lost her university EFL teacher identity built in her early career.However,she can exercise her agency to further professional learning in order to regain her lost identity.3)The third is “identity reconstruction” pattern,the root of which lies in the participant can find a new way out for her professional development when she is suffering professional burnout.She makes a transition from university EFL(English as a Foreign Language)teacher to TCSL(Teaching Chinese as a Second Language)teacher.(3)The influencing factors fall into the individual and the sociocultural.The individual factors include teacher reflection,teacher emotion,teacher agency,teacher learning,teaching practice and teacher knowledge;the sociocultural factors consist of school reform policy,school culture,teacher income,family factors,critical incidents,and mentor influences.(4)There always exist discrepancies between actual identity and ought-to identity of the participants,who tend to minimize them through self-regulatorystrategies,which,however,are constrained by social and institutional environment,which further limit their agency and lead to their professional vulnerability and burnout.Influenced by the school reform policies,the ideal identities of the participants are almost equivalent to their ought-to identities,which indicates satisfying the requirements of the school reform policy has become the ideal state of their career,which means their loss of freedom of identity negotiation.Finally,a model of university EFL teachers' professional identity development has been constructed.This dissertation integrates the identity theories from the sociocultural and psychological perspective to make a comprehensive analysis of the university EFL teachers' professional identity development,which include: the process of university EFL teachers professional identity development,the patterns of their professional identity development,the influencing factors of their professional identity development,and the construction a theoretical model of their professional identity development,enriching the theoretical perspectives and themes.Meanwhile,this study provides suggestions for the teacher education policy makers;attracts the attention of academic scholars to the professional identity development of university EFL teachers;facilitates the university EFL teachers to better understand their professional identity,reflect on their teaching,researching,and to make appropriate plans for their career;and brings implications to the university policy makers to reflect and guide their own educational practices.