Identity formation, reformation, and development of teachers of Chinese in a community-based heritage language school

Abstract

ABSTRACT This study investigates the language teacher identity of one teacher of Chinese in a community-based language school in the U.S. Inspired by Tochon’s authentic learning model (2000) and Bourdieu’s theory of habitus (1972/1977), this study developed a conceptual framework which views language teacher identity as a learning–practice relational triangle that is composed of experiential knowledge, learned knowledge, and knowledge-in-action. The life history of a teacher of Chinese in a community-based language school was investigated. Narrative inquiry was used as the methodology (Clandinin, 2013). The results show that teachers of Chinese are productive practitioners in forming their language teacher identities. Their problem solving and reflective thinking show that they continuously establish communication between different cultural ideological views, and establishing such dialogues is the ultimate goal for language teachers. The results also demonstrate the effectiveness of the learning–practice relational triangle for conceptualising language teacher identity as a contextualised and life-long process.