Navigating identity tensions in changing higher education: a narrative inquiry of an EFL academic

The current technological disruption involves educational reorientation as an enhancement of education for sustainable development. In the realm of English language education, teachers’ professional development is expected to better overcome new educational circumstances, of which one of the variables is digital competence as the influential factor for technology integration in the educational field. A case study involving 5 EFL teachers from different domains and educational backgrounds was intended to dismantle EFL teachers’ digital competence manifested in their professional identity (PI). DigCompEdu framework (Redecker & Punie, 2017) and teachers’ personal interpretative framework (Kelchtermans, 1993) guided the thematic analysis. Following the DigCompEdu framework, organizational communication, professional collaboration & reflective practice were disclosed as contributing factors to support EFL teachers’ PI development. Besides, abreasting the teachers’ personal interpretative framework, task perception and job motivation were unraveled as digital competency manifested in EFL teachers’ PI. In general, the accentuated data analysis pointed out that EFL teachers possessed multiple identities that are alternate in social interaction and pedagogical implication. The findings are deemed valuable to inform the teachers’ excessive values and beliefs of digital competency in relation to their PI. EFL practitioners are able to self reflect the findings into their contextual experiences. Educational institutions, government, and other nested education stakeholders are suggested to equip practical supports towards EFL teachers’ digital competence development. Finally, limitations of the study and suggestions for further research are discussed. Keywords : CALL; digital competency; EFL teacher; professional identity; teacher professional development.

In applied linguistics, teacher professional development and teacher autonomy have long been hot research topics. However, little attention has been paid to the issue of what attitudes teachers hold toward their professional development. Furthermore, it remains unknown whether teacher autonomy is influenced by the aforementioned attitudes. Under this circumstance, the current study attempts to explore what attitudes English as a Foreign Language (EFL) teachers hold toward their professional development and whether such attitudes influence teacher autonomy. For this purpose, we investigated 14 EFL teachers, using classroom observation, stimulated recall interview and semi-structured interview, respectively. The collected data were analyzed in light of the grounded theory, which gave rise to three main findings. First, the participants’ autonomy was positively correlated with their attitudes toward professional development. Second, most of the participants held a negative attitude toward their professional development. Third, the participants held conflicting opinions about the influence of in-service training on professional development. These findings indicate that EFL teachers’ professional identity is positively correlated with teacher autonomy. Moreover, the findings call for effective measures to improve EFL teachers’ attitudes toward their professional identity.

In the past few decades, teacher identity has been a popular topic in the field of English as a Foreign Language (EFL) teaching. As a construct that is socially constructed, teacher identity is influenced by situational contexts and is not fixed but multifaceted. While many studies have examined pre‐service and novice teachers’ identities, relatively fewer paid attention to experienced language teachers’ identities and the conflicts they may encounter. This study investigates one seasoned EFL teacher's multiple identities and the tensions that existed in her identity in a Chinese university setting. Data included a semi‐structured interview, class recordings, a stimulated recall, and artifacts such as the teacher's materials for classroom teaching. Findings demonstrated that the teacher practiced three sub‐identities in her teaching, namely, an English language teacher, a guide, and an academic advisor. Additionally, tensions within her identity as an English educator were identified, consisting of the popularity of technology‐driven tools in students’ English learning activities and the need to conduct research while not possessing sufficient research skills. The pedagogical insights generated underscored the importance of teachers’ agency and institutional support in resolving the tensions to facilitate experienced language teachers’ ongoing professional development and identity construction.

The present study investigates the application of Neuro-Linguistic Programming (NLP) as an innovative approach in second language teaching (SLT) to explore its impact on the professional identity of English as a Foreign Language (EFL) teachers. Employing a sequential explanatory mixed methods design, the research involved 148 Iranian EFL teachers of both genders. The quantitative phase employed NLP and Teacher Professional Identity questionnaires, with a selected group of 20 teachers participating in a four-week NLP training workshop designed to enhance their understanding and application of NLP in classroom discourse. A researcher-designed observation checklist measured teachers' use of NLP techniques. The subsequent qualitative phase involved two rounds of semi-structured interviews with the workshop participants. Spearman rho analysis revealed a significant positive correlation between NLP and the professional identity of EFL instructors. Thematic analysis of qualitative data further affirmed NLP's potential to enhance teaching quality and contribute to teachers' professional identity development. These findings underscore the substantial role of NLP in positively influencing teachers' professional development.

This study aims to investigate the factors that develop the professional identity of Pakistani English as a foreign language (EFL) teachers in Saudi Arabia.This study is unique in the sense that there has been hardly any systematic investigation that has considered the professional identity of Pakistani EFL teachers in Saudi Arabia.This study has two considerations: the way EFL teachers' selves evolve and the personal, professional, social and pedagogical factors constructing a teacher's professional identity.This study was conducted at the English Language Institute of Saudi Arabian University and the study employed a quantitative survey method.The quantitative data was collected from 41 Pakistani EFL teachers by using an online questionnaire.The findings from the research revealed that a number of intrinsic and extrinsic factors develop the professional identity of Pakistani EFL teachers.Among these factors are the participants' pre-Saudi Arabia lives and the decision to become EFL teachers, the decision to come to Saudi Arabia, the impact of their overseas EFL experience, and the social influence on their own professional identity.Moreover, other factors that develop these teachers' professional identities are: being non-native, their views on continuing professional development (CPD), interaction with other EFL teachers, and their professional futures.

This study aims to investigate the factors that develop the professional identity of Pakistani English as a foreign language (EFL) teachers in Saudi Arabia. This study is unique in the sense that there has been hardly any systematic investigation that has considered the professional identity of Pakistani EFL teachers in Saudi Arabia. This study has two considerations: the way EFL teachers' selves evolve and the personal, professional, social and pedagogical factors constructing a teacher’s professional identity. This study was conducted at the English Language Institute of Saudi Arabian University and the study employed a quantitative survey method. The quantitative data was collected from 41 Pakistani EFL teachers by using an online questionnaire. The findings from the research revealed that a number of intrinsic and extrinsic factors develop the professional identity of Pakistani EFL teachers. Among these factors are the participants' pre-Saudi Arabia lives and the decision to become EFL teachers, the decision to come to Saudi Arabia, the impact of their overseas EFL experience, and the social influence on their own professional identity. Moreover, other factors that develop these teachers' professional identities are: being non-native, their views on continuing professional development (CPD), interaction with other EFL teachers, and their professional futures.

This study aimed at uncovering complexities surrounding in-service English as a foreign language (EFL) teachers’ identity development. Literature still lacks knowledge about such process in the face of workplace conflicts and as to whether such conflicts vacillate EFL teachers’ imagined and practiced identities, especially in the context of Iran. To address this lacuna, three Iranian EFL teachers’ identity construction in the course of 4 years was explored through narrative inquiry. Data were collected through journals, narrative semi-structured interviews, and lesson plans. Drawing upon Activity Theory (AT), the findings underscored the fluid, collaborative, and negotiated nature of identity development. This study demonstrated how workplace climate, teaching milieus and power relations within, teachers’ personal ideologies and interpretations, and institutional demands may be used to garner insight into EFL teachers’ journey of professional identity development. This study has implications for educational authorities and teacher educators.

These days, technology advancement has inspired a large number of educators to employ social media in the English as a foreign language (EFL) context. But, some EFL educators are yet unwilling to use such chances, because they are left untrained. Therefore, applying professional development (PD) in this field appears necessary as it is regarded as the main cause of improving educators’ education activity, and proposing new education approaches. To strengthen the academic investment in educators’ professional learning, comprehending elements affecting educators’ performance of learning from PD is vital. Lower commitment degrees were specified as an element that impedes EFL educators from employing social media in EFL education. Moreover, developing the professional identity (PI) of educators is an important issue that straightly pertains to educators’ performance, which assists educators both in comprehending their professional lives and presenting them with a framework to elucidate, expand and contemplate their professional activities. Stimulated by the interest in research on social media-focused courses, this review inspects how teachers’ commitment and identity affect EFL teachers’ implementation of social media in PD. In a nutshell, implications for stakeholders of the study are presented. Indeed, the social media as an impotent device should be incorporated in PD programs to develop both teachers’ commitment and identity. Faculty members should establish workshops, and seminars to arrange for a platform for teachers to use social media to support learning.

The aim of this study is to investigate the attitudes of English as a Foreign Language (EFL) teachers in Jordan towards using webinars as professional development tools in comparing with international EFL teachers. A quantitative study was conducted with (60) EFL teachers, (44) EFL teachers were from Jordan and (16) EFL teachers were from different countries around the world. An online questionnaire which is adapted from Emre’s thesis (2019) was distributed via WhatsApp and Telegram applications. The data has analyzed using descriptive statistics via SPSS statistics. This study was conducted in Amman- Jordan in (2020-2021). The results showed that female and males EFL teachers who have additional courses and who have attended webinars were positive towards using webinars as professional development tools and Jordanian EFL teachers revealed moderate attitudes in comparing with international EFL teachers. This study suggested to encourage Jordanian EFL teachers to attend webinars for professional development by supporting and facilitating conditions, reward teachers who attend webinars and conduct persistent research in order to have different experiences to support the results of the upcoming researches.

The professional identity of English as a foreign language (EFL) teachers in formal education has been widely studied, but research in informal education remains limited. This study explores the context of critical incidents (CIs) identified by informal language institutions (ILIs) EFL teachers and how EFL teachers in ILIs negotiate and construct their professional identities using the critical incident technique (CIT). Ten EFL teachers from an informal English course in Yogyakarta, Indonesia, participated through questionnaires and in-depth interviews. Data analysis identified key themes in CIs affecting teachers' professional identity. Results show that within informal language institution, CIs for teachers occurred in the context of the teacher's professional development, students, and direct work environment. The positive CIs, such as student progression and collaborative support, significantly boosted teachers' confidence and teaching effectiveness, whereas negative CIs, such as absenteeism and perceived inequities, posed challenges to their professional growth. Despite its limitations, including small sample size and reliance on self-reported data, the study provides valuable insights into the unique challenges and opportunities of teaching in informal educational settings, offering directions for future research and practical implications for teacher development programs.

PurposeThe study aimed to investigate how two English as a Foreign Language (EFL) teachers integrated their teacher and researcher identities to achieve sustainable professional growth in the context of a changing academic landscape.MethodsUsing purposive sampling, two EFL teachers from a non-elite public university in China were selected as participants for this qualitative study. Data were collected and triangulated from multiple sources, including semi-structured interviews, narrative frames, document analysis, and the academic profiles of the participants. A qualitative, inductive thematic approach was employed in the data analysis. Adopting “identity” as an analytical lens, this study examined how the two participants underwent different identity trajectories to develop into teacher-researchers under the influence of their personal values and beliefs, as well as contextual factors such as institutional research policy.FindingsThroughout their identity construction process, the two participants encountered identity deficits and tensions between multiple professional roles, leading to their struggles with identity and complex identity (re)construction. While the participants underwent interactions between various forms of identity throughout their careers, they enacted agency to take actions and draw on available resources to address their identity deficits and conflicts, ultimately resolving them by pursuing a sustainable career path as teacher-researchers in their situated socio-institutional environment.ConclusionDespite their different identity trajectories, the construction of the participants’ teacher-researcher identity facilitated their continuing professional development. This study contributes to our understanding of the complexities of EFL teachers’ identity (re)construction when seeking to establish sustainable career paths in a changing academic context. This study also has implications for both EFL academics and university management on how to assist EFL teachers in integrating teacher and researcher identities to achieve sustainable professional development in higher education.

While there has been an increasing interest in English as a foreign language (EFL) teachers’ research engagement and researcher identity construction, scant attention has been paid to tensions caused by the issue of power relations in their research practice. This study draws on data from semi-structured interviews complemented with data from narrative frames and document analysis to examine the influence of power relations on the research practice of six EFL academics and their coping strategies at a Chinese university. The data analysis reveals that for the participants in the study, even though they were driven to be engaged in research practice by a combination of intrinsic and extrinsic motivations, they found that their research endeavors were undermined by the marginalized status of EFL researchers from non-elite universities, as imposed by the Chinese academic circle. Nevertheless, in the face of potential bias against their peripheral academic status, they exerted their agency with micropolitical literacy and tried to seek a way out of the unfavorable academic culture. As EFL teachers at regular universities are increasingly expected to be more research-active and research-productive, more attention and support are needed to facilitate their professional development and researcher identity construction.

The Indonesian programme of Pendidikan Profesi Guru (PPG) or the Teacher Professional Education (TPE) best describes a liminal space where its participants transform from uncertified status to certified ones. This paper uses the lens of liminality theory to explore the experience of an Indonesian in-service EFL (English as a Foreign Language) teacher’s identity reconstruction during a liminal period of TPE. The participant’s liminality made her adopt a new identity as a teacher-student hybrid in becoming a certified EFL teacher. In this single case study, the data were collected from two interviews with Olga (a pseudonym), her reflective writings and lesson plans, and video observations of the teaching practicum. The findings reveal that being a teacher-student hybrid, Olga performed multiple roles simultaneously: as a teacher, student and novice researcher. Olga faced various professional identity tensions during the programme. By exercising agency, Olga transformed tensions into learning experiences and benefited from her hybridity in that it afforded her an opportunity for self-development of learning, cognition, emotion and agency. Thus, this study offered a new way of understanding hybridity in liminality experienced by an EFL teacher while attending an online professional education. The article concludes with implications for educational policies and practices, suggesting the need for continuous support, integration of hybridity, adjustments in teacher training, addressing identity tensions, and conducting future research to enhance teacher development and effectiveness.

The purpose of the present study is to explore cross-cultural differences among teachers of English as a Foreign Language (EFL) on the basic language constructs and the impacts on their perceived teaching ability in English-reading instruction. Chinese EFL (n = 73) and Korean EFL (n = 39) teachers were administered the Reading Teacher Knowledge Survey for testing their implicit and explicit knowledge on phonemic awareness, phonological awareness, phonics, and morphological awareness; and their self-perceived teaching ability on teaching typical readers, struggling readers, phonemic awareness, phonics, fluency, vocabulary, and reading comprehension. Results showed that both Chinese EFL and Korean EFL teachers' knowledge on the phonemic awareness, phonological awareness, and phonics was implicit rather than explicit. However, the teachers' knowledge on morphological awareness showed cross-cultural difference: Chinese EFL teachers had greater explicit knowledge on morphological awareness than implicit knowledge, while their Korean EFL counterparts showed opposite pattern. Self-perceived teaching ability was also distinct cross-culturally, in that Chinese EFL teachers were only confident in teaching English vocabulary, whereas Korean EFL teachers had generally positive self-perception on teaching typical readers, fluency, vocabulary, and reading comprehension. Importantly, both groups of EFL teachers' explicit knowledge on the basic language constructs explained additional variance for predicting their self-perception on teaching English reading, controlling for the effects of their years of teaching and implicit knowledge. Educational implications and future research ideas are discussed in relation to the cross-cultural differences of teacher knowledge and their perceived teaching ability.

There are three objectives of this study. Firstly, to explore the process and types of the development of the professional identity among China male EFL teachers in higher institutions. Secondly, to investigate the factors that affect the development of China male EFL teachers’ professional identity. Thirdly, to constructs a theoretical model of construction of professional identity among China male EFL teachers in higher institutions. This study employs a qualitative research approach, through a case studies involving three male EFL teachers from Hebei province, aiming to enhance English learning outcomes and education quality in higher education, providing insights for university management policies in the field of foreign language education in China. This study has the following main findings: First, there are common and different features in the process of their professional identity development. The professional identity development of them is categorized into three types: the Multiple Identity Conflict type, the Identity Crisis type and the Identity Reconstruction type. Second, the factors affecting the identity development of EFL teachers in Chinese higher institutions are categorized into two groups which are personal factors and sociocultural factors. Third, by analyzing the actual, desirable and ideal identities of China male EFL teachers, this study constructs a professional identity and development model for Male EFL teachers in China higher institutions. The implications of this study for educational reform in higher institutions in China include two aspects: 1) The institutions should create a reasonable institutional environment for the professional development of Male EFL teachers, and 2) the institutions should give EFL teachers more humanistic care. As to EFL teachers, it is important to pay attention to the national policy at the macro level, and design one’s career rationally. It is also important to develop a sense of researcher identity and fully recognize that researcher identity is an important part of the professional identity of male EFL teachers and that the development of other identities play a key role in promoting teachers’ professional development.