| While previous research has investigated identity construction mostly in academic writing and writing for academic purposes in EFL contexts,what identities EFL learners construct and how they construct their writer identity in writing Personal Experience Narratives(hereafter called PENs)of critical events remain largely unexplored.The present study weaved narrative themes,narrative styles,and narrative competence into writer identity construction in PEN writing.EFL writing from a narrative perspective may help writers navigate their personal experiences and construct identity.PENs have been used as a practice of meaningful literacy instruction in EFL contexts and could fulfil the functions of helping writers record a memorable past,reconcile with the past,and strive for personal growth.Drawing on the theory of identity construction,sociocultural theory,and the theory of dialogism,the study aims to investigate identity construction of Chinese EFL learners through PENs over two semesters.Writing PENs of critical events could help students develop their voice,emotional engagement,and ownership.Narrative themes in PENs of critical events were used to help construct their identity.EFL learners’ identity of three selves(an ideal self,an actual self,and a possible self)was constructed in different narrative styles with their respective narrative elements.During the course of writing about personal experiences of critical events over two semesters,students improved their narrative competence greatly.The development of narrative competence had an important influence on EFL learner identity construction in PEN writing.The present study adopted both qualitative and quantitative methods to investigate identity construction in Chinese EFL learners’ PENs of critical events.The sources of data included drafts of students’ four personal experience narrative writing tasks of critical events,reflective journals,and audio recordings of semi-structured interviews.Sixty-six Chinese EFL university students voluntarily participated in the study.Qualitative analysis software NVivo 12 was used to help analyze drafts of students’ PEN writings,reflective journals,and interview data.Statistical analysis software SPSS(Version 22)and cohesion analysis software Co-Metrix 3.0 were used for the statistical analysis of students’ narrative competence.Text analysis and semi-structured interviews were employed to analyze the influence of the development of narrative competence on writer identity construction in PEN writing.It was found that three selves of EFL students were constructed,which were an ideal self,an actual self,and a possible self.An ideal self comprised a better self and a desired self.An actual self comprised a public self and a private self.A possible self was made up of a positive,desired self and a negative,feared self.Students projected three different selves in the process of narrating and reflecting on their critical events and making sense of themselves.Identity of three selves was dynamic,fluid,and multifaceted.Such selves displayed various aspects of students’ personal growth and development from high school to university and offered a better understanding of identity construction in EFL writing contexts.It was found that EFL learners’ identity of three selves was constructed through writing PENs of critical events.The narrative themes and narrative styles worked together dynamically to present,reflect,and negotiate different writer identities in PEN writing.Five narrative themes in PEN writing were classified and identified to help construct identity.The themes entailed engagement(i.e.,academic performance,school activities,and social activities),interpersonal relationship skills(i.e.,relationship initiation,relationship maintenance,and communication abilities),support network(i.e.,self-support via writing PENs and social support via different sources),sense of loss(i.e.,new environment,difficulties with interpersonal relationships,dissatisfaction with themselves,and loneliness),and personal growth(i.e.,academic performance,relationship with others,appreciation of past experiences,personal strength,well-being,and resilience).Narrative themes identified from PENs of critical events were informative and adequate to reflect the views of students about what they considered to be important in their personal experiences.These themes threaded the underlying meaning of students’ personal experiences of critical events and could give an overview of writer identity construction in PEN writing.It was also found that EFL learners constructed their identity through PEN writing in three major narrative styles:a linear narrative,a reverse narrative,and a reiterative narrative.Each narrative style had its own narrative elements,which shared some similarities but varied within the narrative styles.Narrative elements in a linear narrative comprised abstract,orientation,complicating actions,results,and evaluation,while a reverse narrative used narrative elements of foregrounding,orientation,complicating actions,results,and evaluation.Narrative elements in a reiterative narrative included foregrounding,complicating actions,evaluation,results,and coda.Students used narrative styles with different temporal paths to narrate their personal experiences and construct identity of selves.The use of different narrative styles helped students organize and develop the narratives in recounting past experiences of critical events.In this way,their narratives could present a full picture of the personal experiences of critical events and help construct writer identity of different selves.The results show that EFL learners’ narrative competence improved,and the improvement of narrative competence had an important influence on their writer identity construction in PENs of critical events.The improvement in narrative writing performance(complexity,accuracy,fluency,idiomaticity,and coherence)and narrative coherence(theme,context,and chronology)helped students better construct their identity in PEN writing.Students improved slightly in the use of connectives(causal connectives,logical connectives,adversative/contrastive connectives,temporal connectives,and additive connectives).It is noteworthy that the number of connectives increased,and students raised their awareness of using connectives more accurately in English narrative writing.All improvements empowered EFL learners with constructing multiple identities discursively in EFL writing contexts.EFL learners constructed identity of three selves through PENs of critical even ts,involving and employing narrative themes,narrative styles,and narrative competence.Based on the major findings and discussions,a tentative framework of identity construction in PENs of critical events was put forward in the study.The framework provides a perspective and lays a basis for investigating identity construction in narrative writing.It can be employed as a guide to EFL researchers and teachers on how to understand and place more emphasis on writer identity construction of EFL learners.The study thus extends the scope of previous studies on identity construction and provides insightful implications for identity construction in EFL learning and teaching contexts.The study proposed that PEN writing can serve as a practice of meaningful literacy instruction in EFL contexts.It has been demonstrated that writing PENs facilitated students’ self-reflection,self-exploration,meaning-making,self-support,and personal growth.Writing PENs helped students seek self-support via writing about themselves and social support they got from different sources.The findings highlight how EFL learners told their own stories in PEN writing opened up new space for them to represent their own identity and supported them in better personal growth.The study thus offers a more nuanced understanding of writer identity construction in the field of EFL writing teaching and research.The study calls for attention to the salient power of narrative writing and the role of PENs of critical events in offering an effective way for Chinese EFL learners to develop the ability to tell their own stories,China’s education stories,and China’s stories.It can be drawn that more emphasis should be placed on ways of facilitating the enhancement of learners’ narrative competence in EFL writing teaching and research. |
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