A Study On EFL Teacher Identity In Rural Senior High Schools

Although many factors are involved in the success of English teaching reform,teachers are undoubtedly the determining factor in its successful implementation due to their roles as decision-makers and executors in classes.However,academic studies on teachers emphasize requirements for teachers imposed by society,and focus more on the role of teachers as a tool,but less on their internal emotions and cognition.Identity offers a new perspective to examine teachers themselves.The proposal of The National English Curriculum Standards for Common Senior High schools(2017)has brought big challenges to EFL teacher identity in senior high schools,whereas it also provides a huge space for research.EFL teachers in rural senior high schools,as a special group,have their characteristics,so the research on EFL teacher identity in rural senior high schools has a unique value.However,there are few studies on EFL teacher identity in senior high schools in rural areas.For the above reasons,the writer makes a research on the current situation of EFL teacher identity in rural senior high schools in Yancheng.Meanwhile,the writer analyzes the influencing factors of EFL teacher identity to put forth corresponding suggestions to improve EFL teacher identity.This study chooses EFL teachers in rural senior high schools in Yancheng as the research subject to mainly discuss the following three questions.Firstly,what is the status quo of EFL teacher identity in rural senior high schools? Secondly,what are the factors that influence EFL teacher identity in rural senior high schools? Thirdly,what measures can be taken to improve EFL teacher identity in rural senior high schools?In order to solve the above three problems,this research adopts sociocultural theory,self-identity theory,and social identity theory,comprehensively uses qualitative and quantitative research methods which are literature review,questionnaire,and interview.First,the questionnaire is made by means of literature review.Then,the researcher makes a questionnaire survey of 208 EFL teachers and chooses 7 EFL teachers to engage in further interviews through the purposeful sampling method.Finally,the researcher deeply analyzes the collected data.The results show that the general situation of EFL teacher identity in rural senior high schools in Yancheng is not so ideal.There are significant differences in identity among EFL teachers with different ages,years of teaching experience,educational backgrounds,professional titles,and teaching hours.Moreover,whether teachers graduated from normal universities also affects EFL teacher identity.Factors influencing EFL teacher identity in rural senior high schools involve three aspects,which are individual,school,and social perspectives.The individual perspective includes teachers' basic information such as age,years of teaching experience,and so forth,teachers' career motivation,separation from local life,and confusion about curriculum reform.The school perspective includes campus culture,the contrast between the quality of student resources and schools' evaluation system,interpersonal relationships in school,and organizational support.The social perspective includes the contrast between the social expectation of teachers and teachers' social status,salary and treatment.According to the analysis of influencing factors,the writer puts forward corresponding suggestions to EFL teachers,schools,and educational administration departments.Teachers should set up clear career motivation and correct professional faith,actively integrate with local life,enrich professional knowledge,and make active reflection.Schools should actively improve the teaching environment,build people-oriented management,perfect the evaluation system,build a harmonious interpersonal relationship for teachers,and build more platforms for teachers' professional development.Educational administration departments should increase investment in education and raise teachers' salaries,create a fair and just social environment for teachers,lead the public to hold a correct view on rural teachers,guide teachers to correctly understand the curriculum reform,and strengthen exchanges and cooperation between urban and rural teachers.