Xiangchen Zhang--a Narrative Inquiry of Professional Identity Crisis of English teachers in China's Private University

Abstract

Identities of English-as-a-foreign-language (EFL) teachers have become popular issues in the field of teachers’ professional development since 1990s. Novice EFL teachers in Chinese private universities, as a group of emerging professionals, are always confronted with professional identity crisis (PIC) in process of identity construction. There are plenty of studies focusing on teacher’s identity construction but not much attention has been paid to novice EFL teachers’ PIC, solutions, and identity reconstruction in the context of private universities. In this background, this research is designed to address this gap and attempts to investigate causes and manifestations of EFL teachers’ PIC and how they reconciliate and reconstruct multiple identities. This research will be conducted through critical autoethnography and collaborative autoethnography. By deploying thematic analysis for data analysis of teachers’ experiences and stories, the results will propose valuable implications for professional development of novice EFL teachers in Chinese private universities.