DEVELOPING EFL TEACHERS IDENTITY: SOCIALIZING/EMPATHIZING SKILLS & CODESWITCHING FROM THE ACCULTURATORS ROLE

Abstract

Early experiences as a student become a cultural reference for English as a Foreign Language teachers. This background, along with tools and strategies gathered from training and teaching experience, shape roles that are constantly tested and negotiated within the classroom, developing an EFL teacher’s identity. The following is a case study on three EFL teachers’ identity development from the Pontificia Universidad Católica del Ecuador. EFL teaching roles were identified through semi-participant observation and compiled in an observation grid. The origin of the tools and strategies involved in the described roles was deepened using the biographical methodology through life-story interviews. The results show that Socializing / Empathizing skills from the Acculturator role were present on teachers that codeswitch using an Ecuadorian pitch during class, which allowed them to develop successful emotional transactions in the class. Previous working experience and training provided teachers with new tools and strategies for their EFL teaching roles. Role models that come from the family and the working context played a crucial role in the establishment of emotional tools that allowed teachers to negotiate roles within the class using low emotional labor. With emotional skills that allow to incorporate new tools and strategies with low emotional labor, teachers can build roles that later will be part of their EFL teacher’s identity.