The issue of Teacher Identity
As Morgan
and Clarke note (in Hinkel, 2011, p. 821), there are two areas of SLE that are
important with regards to identity, the pedagogy and the language/texts/signs.
They argue that there is a need to provide language learners with a variety of
texts including digitised to create meaning-making, engage identities and to avoid
“taken for granted internalised beliefs/norms” (Morgan & Clarke, in Hinkel, 2011, p. 823), such as gender and race. The importance of text selection in second
language acquisition in Delhi , Johannesburg and London) was analysed by
Bhattacharya, Gupta et al (2007, in Hinkel, 2011, p. 824) to include
conventional and multimodal texts and the effect on the student’s identity and
ownership of the language. They found that when the texts and teaching
emphasised external standards, as in Delhi and London, there was less ownership
of the language compared to in Johannesburg where the text chosen used the
student's life experiences and involves them in meaning-making activities.
Teacher Identity
The notion
of the importance of language teacher identity was also raised by Morgan and
Clarke (in Hinkel, 2011), as the teacher’s own identity can play a role
in the second language acquisition process and the implication of power and
knowledge. Tsui (2007, in Hinkel, 2011) for instance examined the
identity formation of one teacher’s struggle in contemporary China. Tsui’s study
included Minfang who was born in a poor village in China in the 1970’s. He
attended evening classes for students with poor listening and speaking skills
as even though he had good grammar knowledge and written English, his English
speaking and listening skills were deemed to be insufficient. Minfang socialised with
local Cantonese to learn to speak local Cantonese. This helped with his
identity. He also did Intensive English to improve vocabulary and grammar and Communicative Language Teaching (CLT) to assist with his communication skills. Tsui (2007) noted that neither Minfang or his classmates, found the CLT approach helpful as the activities did not
align with Chinese culture, such as expecting students to express opinions
quickly, the exams were rigorous and there was too much reliance on textbooks. After finishing a degree Minfang began to
teach in Nanda, China, without a full teaching qualification. He was expected
to be a CLT teacher. As Minfang did not agree with this approach, he adapted
his teaching by incorporating interactive activities. He was criticised for
this and therefore reverted to CLT practices. Manfang reflects, “it was a
personal struggle to construct my identity as a teacher in a well-regarded English
department in China…I …buried my former identity as a crippling student” (Tsui, 2007, p. 668). Minfang’s marginalism effected his sense of self-worth
and identity when he was teaching, even though he had achieved a high standard
in English. This indicates the complex nature of identity formation.
Tsui used
Wenger’s (1998, in Tsui, 2007,) social theory of identity formation in his
study, “as a dual process of identification and negotiation of meaning” (Tsui,
2007, p. 657). Tsui (2007) suggests that there are three issues to do with
teacher identity, firstly the multifaceted nature of the professional identity,
secondly the relationship between personal and social dimensions in identity
formation and thirdly the “relationship between agency and structure in identity
formation” (Tsui, 2007, p. 658). According to Wenger (1998, in Tsui, 2007, p.
660), identities are “formed amid the tension between our investment in the
various forms of belonging and our ability to negotiate meanings that matter in
those context’s." Tsui concludes
that (2007, p. 660) “identity formation is a dual process of identification and
negotiation of meanings." Wenger (1998) furthermore believes that there are
three modes of belonging that create identification, engagement, imaginiation
and alignment. Wenger (1998) believes
that through relating ourselves to others we get a sense of who we are and
through imagination we see how our experience is located in the wider world, as
long as stereotyping is avoided, and alignment where people in a community are
connected by their actions. Wenger (1998) also describes the importance of
ownership of meanings, a lack of which could cause marginality, whereas when people
can negotiate meaning, they have ownership and power over meanings. Tsui
describes (2007, p. 661) how “members whose meanings are consistently rejected
and whose experiences are considered irrelevant….will develop an identity of
marginality.”
Research has shown that learners should be provided with diverse activities and classroom practices that allow the learners to speak, listen, read and write from different positions (Norton & Toohey, 2011).
Multimodal technologies have also changed the way people communicate so that communication can be through music, images and digital media. In Australia there are distance language teaching programs (Norton & Toohey, 2011) which also has an impact on identity of the teacher and learner. This virtual form of communication can bridge the gap between learner and teacher, creating a learning space regardless of their location.
"Identity has two contradictory features; on one hand, it can unite and assimilate individuals, making them similar to other members; on the other hand, it can divide and differentiate people, making them unique and different" (Kouhpaeenejad & Gholaminejad, 2014, p. 201).
References
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