A Study On College English Teachers' Identity Constructions In Chinese EFL Context In The Midst Of Transitional Period

Currently,in most universities and colleges,college EFL teaching has shifted from EGP(English for General Purpose)to ESP(English for Specific Purpose)or EAP(English for Academic Purpose),college EFL teachers are facing a lot of opportunities as well as challenges.Based on Wenger's(1998)identity formation theory,the present study aims to explore the status quo and distinctive features of college EFL teachers' identity,whether identity crisis occurs in the college EFL teachers' identity and the relationships between the demographic factors(gender,length of teaching in college,age,academic title,monthly income level,monthly teaching load,educational background & academic degree as well as university types)and college teachers' identity.The study was conducted by using both quantitative and qualitative methods.Drawing on Wenger's(1998)and Tao & Gao's(2018)identity construction models,a questionnaire of college EFL teachers' identity was designed.160 questionnaires were sent to the college EFL teachers from 14 universities and colleges in China.155 valid questionnaires were collected.The data were put into SPSS 22.0 and analyzed by using descriptive statistics,T-test and one-way ANOVA.Four teachers were chosen as participants in the following semi-structured interview.The major findings of the present study are: firstly,the descriptive statistics of the nine factors(professional value,the sense of belonging to a profession,English language teaching beliefs,English language proficiency,job involvement,professional behavior tendency,teaching reform identification,professional environment identification and scientific research identification)are higher than the critical value 3,which indicates that all the participants have high level of identity.Secondly,among the nine factors,the descriptive statistics of the three factors(professional behavior tendency;professional environment identification;scientific research identification)are higher than the critical value 3 and lower than the mean value 4.It indicates that differences occur among four dimensions of the participants' identity and it also suggests that identity crisis occur.Possible reasons for the occurrence of the participants' identity crisis are: 1)the teachers' confusion and struggle between the examination-or test-oriented standard and curriculum reform standard;2)the challenges brought about by curriculum reform;3)the marginalized disciplinary status of college English;and 4)the split of teacher role and researcher role.Thirdly,according to the relationships between the nine demographic factors(gender,length of teaching in college,age,academic title,monthly income level,monthly teaching load,educational background & academic degree as well as university types)and college English teachers' identity,no significant differences occur between the length of teaching in college factor,monthly income level factor and monthly teaching load factor and the four CETI dimensions,which means these three factors produce no significant impacts on college EFL teachers' identity construction.On the other hand,significant differences occur between the other five demographic factors(namely,gender,age,academic title,educational background & academic degree as well as university/college types)and the four CETI dimensions at different levels.It indicates that these five factors do make impacts on college EFL teachers' identity constructions to some degree.The present study only explored the status quo and distinctive features of 155 participants' identity,the results and conclusion may need further verification and supplementation accordingly.Meanwhile,the study also discussed and analyzed how demographic factors make impacts on college EFL teachers' identity,it is expected that it would provide implications and suggestions to college EFL teachers' professional developments and the planning of their professional perspectives.