| Rapid development of the Internet technology and popularity of hand-held gadgets over the past two decades have triggered the ubiquity of English learning.Online English training as an increasingly popular emerging industry thus gives birth to a growing number of online English training teachers,accompanied with dramatic changes concerning communication channels and relationships between teachers and students.This paper examines how two teachers working at a large online English training institution of China constructed their professional identities mainly by deploying semi-structured interviews.In particular,narrative inquiry was adopted to analyze the status quo as well as process of their different identity construction,and the underlying micro-historical and micro-political factors(including their EFL learning and teaching experiences).The research framework of this study is largely based on four dimensions of EFL teachers' professional identity,integrated with Wenger's(1998)social theory of identity formation and Fairclough's(2003)discursive construction of identity.Results show that,(1)The two focus teachers of this study,Crystal and Jessica,have constructed complex but conflicting,strong and articulated professional identities respectively.This is largely fashioned by such factors as individuals' English learning/teaching experience as well as the online teacher-student community,mode of teaching,institutional culture and power relations in the Chinese context of online EFL learning;(2)Despite the seemingly same working context,their perception of institutional support differed considerably,which constitutes the key force shaping discrepant trajectories of these two teachers' identity construction and professional development.It is hoped that this paper can bring implications for professional development of EFL teachers,the reform of English education and faculty administration in the context of new technology and new media. |
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