A Study Of EAP Teacher Identity Construction From The Perspective Of Activity Theory

Given the need to cultivate competitive international talents,China’s college English teaching has advocated a curriculum reform oriented toward English for Academic Purposes(EAP),aiming to develop students’ English competence in academic communication and academic skills.In response to this call,more and more colleges in China began to offer EAP courses,and the rise of EAP teaching provides college English teachers opportunities and challenges due to their limited experience or expertise in EAP teaching.Especially,they are faced with the transformation of teacher identity and career development.Teachers are the subject of curriculum reform,and teacher identity plays an important role in teachers’ adaptability to the changed educational context.When facing a transition from GE teaching to EAP teaching,college English teachers need to identify and construct their new identity as EAP teachers to adapt to the changed curriculum and cope with the requirements of the new curriculum.Teacher identity is a key concept of teachers’ professional development and has a significant impact on teaching practices.The construction of EAP teacher identity would exert an influence on the outcomes of EAP teaching.Being a social configuration,the understanding of language teacher identity should consider individual and contextual dimensions.Underpinned by Activity Theory,this study explored the construction of EAP teacher identity during college English curriculum reform through qualitative multi-case analysis.The data was collected mainly through semi-structured interviews,and supplemented by classroom observation and documentary analysis,forming triangular verification.Based on data analysis of information from multiple sources,three major findings were presented.First,the transition from being a GE teacher to an EAP teacher required English teachers to be engaged actively in the identity construction of EAP teachers.With the complex nature of EAP,the identity development of an EAP teacher involved the construction of multiple identities including knowledge learner,EAP practitioner,and researcher.Second,each sub-identity construction required great efforts of EAP teachers,and they were inevitably trapped in internal identity conflicts due to their participation in multiple activities.Especially,EAP teachers have been stuck in the identity conflict between "teacher" and "researcher".Third,as EAP teacher identity construction was dependent on the teaching context and negotiated by multiple elements of the EAP teaching activity,multi-level structural conflicts exited and EAP teacher identity conflicts appeared.Such identity conflicts were influenced by both personal and institutional factors,manifested in EAP teachers’lack of curriculum and subject content knowledge,and the lack of support from EAP course arrangements,community members,and evaluation and promotion mechanisms of EAP teachers.The findings of this study provide a better understanding of the connotations of EAP teacher identity and the identity construction process,and have some implications for EAP teacher development and their EAP teaching practices.The discussion of identity conflicts between multiple sub-identities of EAP teachers and the influencing factors of such identity conflicts sheds some light on educational institutions and teaching administrators on providing effective support for EAP teaching and EAP teacher training.To sum up,the ongoing curriculum reform of EAP teaching could be implemented successfully,and the mutually beneficial interactions between curriculum reform and EAP teachers’ professional development could be promoted.