A narrative inquiry into professional identity construction of university EFL teachers in China: A case study of three teachers based in community of practice

Abstract

Nowadays, The present study tries to explore three aspects concerning teacher professional identity construction and answer three questions: 1. How do university EFL teachers in China understand their professional identity? 2. How do university EFL teachers in China construct their professional identity in community of practice? 3. How do the teachers differ in the process of shaping and constructing their professional identity? The university EFL teachers who participate in the present study are from a key comprehensive university in Chongqing, China. They are divided into three groups and categorized as novice teachers, developing teachers and experienced teachers. According to the investigation, academic identity, teacher identity and institutional identity compose these university EFL teachers' professional identity, among which institutional community where teachers work together and teaching community involving the interaction between teachers and students are of great significance in the construction of EFL teachers' professional identities. Furthermore, the results indicate that collaborative and caring institutional community help to enhance novice teachers' sense of belonging and awareness of development, and the emotional motivation and resources support from the institution, colleagues and institution leaders' positive feedback help the teachers a lot in developing an integrated professional identity. The results also suggest that teachers participating in this study have shown stronger awareness of teacher identity, followed by academic identity, while institutional identity is rather implicit. Meanwhile, some problems in Chinese university EFL teachers' professional identity construction are revealed in the present research. For instance, young teachers report that they feel helpless in construction of their academic identity; the Assessment System is both motivation and pressure; insufficient cooperation in teaching and academic research between teachers; and the peripheral teachers' need of chances of being involved in the community of practice. Finally, some suggestions are given to university teachers, teacher educators and institutional leaders.