Abstract
This study reports the examination of the professionalism of a local English teacher in Sabah, Malaysia, through dialogic narrative inquiry. The purpose of this examination is to understand ways in which professionalism of a local English teacher in a setting where English is minimally spoken is enacted in light of different social entities and objects, as well as prescriptive expectations. Narratives from the teacher, Misha, concerning her teaching were collected over seven months. Subsequently, the narratives were restoried by the researcher and Misha over four months, resulting in narrative constellations which described variables that affected Misha professionally. The constellations are Misha’s self, her students, her colleagues and the English Teaching Assistant, as well as the prescribed materials and pedagogy. The findings support the notion that teacher professionalism is a dynamic and multi-faceted construct. Furthermore, the study provides an avenue for the legitimization of an English language teacher through thoughts and actions reflected through narratives. Keywords: Local English teacher; dialogic narrative inquiry; narrative constellation; teacher professionalism; teacher identity
Highlights
While studies regarding local English teachers’ professionalism have increased, they remain subject to the discourses of inequality (Kubota & Lin 2006, Jeon 2009, Selvi 2014, Rudolph, Selvi & Yazan 2015)
This stems from the long-standing interest in distinguishing local and non-local English teachers which is prone to displace local English teachers as being deficient in English language skills and knowledge, or ineffective English language teachers
The medium of communication was English, even after the educational reform in Malaysia in the 80s that saw the shift of English to Bahasa Malaysia (BM) (Lee 1999)
Summary
While studies regarding local English teachers’ professionalism have increased, they remain subject to the discourses of inequality (Kubota & Lin 2006, Jeon 2009, Selvi 2014, Rudolph, Selvi & Yazan 2015). From various studies on local English teachers, it has been argued that they are capable of pedagogical approaches suitable for their students and working parameters (e.g., Hayes 2010b) These capabilities, albeit reflected through research, signify local English teachers’ professionalism, which is indicative of their ‘potential for thinking otherwise’ – a call Kumaravadivelu (2016) made to urge non-local English teachers and scholars to stand up against hegemonic discourses prevalent in English language education, that is, the idea that English is only teachable by those from an English speaking country, or those with the characteristics common to a native English speaking person (see Kubota & Lin 2006).
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