Becoming an English language teacher: Continuities and Discontinuities

Werbińska, Dorota

doi:10.1515/jolace-2015-0002

Abstract

The aim of the paper is to report a three-year phenomenographic study conducted on seven EFL Polish teachers with the focus on presenting how they experience different aspects of language teaching at three crucial stages: 1) the time of ELT theory studying, 2) the time of school placement, 3) the time of first-year working as professional teachers. Each stage of the study is presented from the perspective of affordances standing for the respondents’ expectations (continuities) as well as constraints (discontinuities). The article concludes that discontinuities, rather than continuities, can prove invaluable in language teacher identity development.

References

Abednia, A. (2012). Teachers’ professional identity: Contributions of a critical EFL teacher education course in Iran. Teaching and Teacher Education, 28, 706-717.10.1016/j.tate.2012.02.005
Search in Google Scholar
Alsup, J. (2006). Teacher identity discourses. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.10.4324/9781410617286
Search in Google Scholar
Andrews, S. (2003). ‘Just like instant noodles’: L2 teachers and their beliefs about grammar pedagogy. Teachers and Teaching: Theory and Practice, 9(4), 351-375.10.1080/1354060032000097253
Search in Google Scholar
Aronin, L. & Singleton, D. (2013). Affordances theory in multilingualism studies. Studies in Second Language Learning and Teaching, 2(3), 311-331.10.14746/ssllt.2012.2.3.3
Search in Google Scholar
Barcelos, A. M. (2001). The interaction between students’ beliefs and knowledge about assessment and instruction. In Johnston, B. B. & Irujo, S. (Eds.), Research and practice in language teacher education: Voices from the field (pp. 69-88). Minneapolis, Minnesota: Center for advanced Research on language Acquisition.
Search in Google Scholar
Bhabha, H. K. (1996). Culture’s in-between. In Hall, S. & du Guy, P. (Eds.), Questions of cultural identity (pp.18-36). London: Sage.
Search in Google Scholar
Borg, S. (1999). Teachers’ theories in grammar teaching. ELT Journal, 53(3), 157-164.10.1093/eltj/53.3.157
Search in Google Scholar
Burn, K. (2007). Professional knowledge and identity in a contested discipline: challenges for student teachers and teacher educators. Oxford Review of Education, 33(4), 445-467.10.1080/03054980701450886
Search in Google Scholar
Clarke, M. (2013). A tale of two teachers: teacher identity and the care of the self in an era of accountability. In Benson, P. & Cooker, L. (Eds.), The applied linguistic individual (pp. 164-177). London: Equinox.
Search in Google Scholar
Crhova, J. & Gaona, D. R. D. (2014). Change in beliefs on language learning of BA students in language teaching. Journal of Language and Cultural Education, 2(2), 16-32.
Search in Google Scholar
Da Silva, M. (2005). Constructing the teaching process from inside out: How pre-service teachers make sense of their perceptions of the teaching of the four skills. TESL-EJ, 9(2). Retrieved from http://teslej.org/ej34/a10.html. (accessed 5 May 2013)
Search in Google Scholar
Deters, P. (2011). Identity, agency and the acquisition of professional language and culture. London: Bloomsbury.
Search in Google Scholar
Elliot, J. (2005). Using narrative in social research: qualitative and quantitative approaches. London: Sage Publications.10.4135/9780857020246
Search in Google Scholar
English, A. R. (2013). Discontinuity in learning. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.10.1017/CBO9781139177825
Search in Google Scholar
Farrell, T. S. C. (2003). Learning to teach English language during the first year: personal influences and challenges. Teaching and Teacher Education, 19, 95-111.10.1016/S0742-051X(02)00088-4
Search in Google Scholar
Farrell, T. S. C. (2012). Novice–service language teacher development: Bridging the gap between pre-service and in-service education and development. TESOL Quarterly, 46 (3), 435-449.10.1002/tesq.36
Search in Google Scholar
Gabryś-Barker, D. (2014). Success: From failure to failure with enthusiasm. Studies in Second Language Learning and Teaching, 4(2), 301-325.10.14746/ssllt.2014.4.2.7
Search in Google Scholar
Gibson, J. J. (1979). The ecological approach to visual perception. Hillsdale: Erlbaum.
Search in Google Scholar
Gonzales, C. (2011). Extending research on ‘conceptions of teaching’: commonalities and differences in recent investigations. Teaching in Higher Education, 16(1), 65-80.10.1080/13562517.2010.507302
Search in Google Scholar
Hayes, D. (2013). Narratives of experience: teaching English in Sri Lanka and Thailand. In Barkhuizen, G. (Ed.), Narrative research in applied linguistics (pp. 62-82). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Search in Google Scholar
Herbert, E. & Worthy, T. (2001). Does the first year of teaching have to be a bad one? A case study of success. Teaching and Teacher Education, 17, 897-911.10.1016/S0742-051X(01)00039-7
Search in Google Scholar
Hismanoglu, M. & Hismanoglu, S. (2010). Language teachers’ preferences of pronunciation teaching techniques: traditional or modern? Procedia Social and Behavioral Sciences, 2, 983-989.10.1016/j.sbspro.2010.03.138
Search in Google Scholar
Inozu, J. (2011). Beliefs about foreign language learning among students training to teach English as a foreign language. Social Behavior and Personality, 39(5), 645-654.10.2224/sbp.2011.39.5.645
Search in Google Scholar
Kalaja, P. & Barcelos, A. M. F. (2006). Beliefs about SLA. New research approaches. New York: Springer.
Search in Google Scholar
Kamarul Kabilan, M. (2013). A phenomenological study of an international teaching practicum: Pre-service teachers’ experiences of professional development. Teaching and Teacher Education, 36, 198-209.10.1016/j.tate.2013.07.013
Search in Google Scholar
Kang, D. M. (2013). EFL teachers’ language use for classroom discipline: A look at complex interplay of variables. System, 41, 149-163.10.1016/j.system.2013.01.002
Search in Google Scholar
Kanno, Y. & Norton, B. (2003). Imagined communities and educational possibilities: Introduction. Journal of Language, Identity and Education, 2(4), 241-249.10.1207/S15327701JLIE0204_1
Search in Google Scholar
Kramsch, C. (2009). The Multilingual subject. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Search in Google Scholar
Kyriacou, C. & Kunc, R. (2007). Beginning teachers’ expectations of teaching. Teaching and Teacher Education, 23, 1246-1257.10.1016/j.tate.2006.06.002
Search in Google Scholar
Larsen-Freeman, D. & Cameron, L. (2008). Complex systems and applied linguistics. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Search in Google Scholar
Le Cornu, R. (2009). Building resilience in pre-service teachers. Teaching and Teacher Education, 2, 717-723.10.1016/j.tate.2008.11.016
Search in Google Scholar
Lightbown, P. M. & Spada, N. (2000). How languages are learned. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Search in Google Scholar
Lofstrom, E. & Poom-Valicks, K. (2013). Beliefs about teaching: Persistent or malleable? A longitudinal study of prospective student teachers’ beliefs. Teaching and Teacher Education, 35, 104-113.10.1016/j.tate.2013.06.004
Search in Google Scholar
Macdonald, M., Badger, R. & White, G. (2001). Changing values: what use are theories of language learning and teaching? Teaching and Teacher Education, 17, 949-963.10.1016/S0742-051X(01)00042-7
Search in Google Scholar
Macintyre, P. D. & Mercer, S. (2014). Introducing positive psychology to SLA. Studies in Second Language Learning and Teaching, 4(2), 153-172.10.14746/ssllt.2014.4.2.2
Search in Google Scholar
Manchon, R. M. (2009). Individual differences in foreign language learning: The dynamics of beliefs about L2 writing. RESLA, 22, 245-268.
Search in Google Scholar
Marton, F. & Booth, S. (1997). Learning and awareness. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.
Search in Google Scholar
Marton, F. & Tsui, A. (2004). Classroom discourse in the space of learning. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.10.4324/9781410609762
Search in Google Scholar
Mercer, S. (2011). Language learner self-concept: Complexity, continuity and change. System, 39, 335-346.10.1016/j.system.2011.07.006
Search in Google Scholar
Męczkowska, A. (2002). Od świadomości nauczyciela do konstrukcji świata społecznego. Kraków: Impuls.
Search in Google Scholar
Michońska-Stadnik, A. (2013). Teoretyczne i praktyczne podstawy weryfikacji wybranych teorii subiektywnych w kształceniu nauczycieli języków obcych. Wrocław: Wydawnictwo Uniwersytetu Wrocławskiego.
Search in Google Scholar
Murray, G. (2013). Pedagogy of the possible: Imagination, autonomy and space. Studies in Second Language Learning and Teaching, 3(3), 377-396.10.14746/ssllt.2013.3.3.4
Search in Google Scholar
Peacock, M. (2001). Pre-service ESL teachers’ beliefs about second language learning: a longitudinal study. System, 29, 177-195.10.1016/S0346-251X(01)00010-0
Search in Google Scholar
Pillen, M. T., Den Brok, P. J. & Beijaard, D. (2013). Profiles and change in beginning teachers’ professional identity tensions. Teaching and Teacher Education, 34, 86-97.10.1016/j.tate.2013.04.003
Search in Google Scholar
Pluskota, A. (2014). The application of positive psychology in the practice of education. SpringerPlus, 3, 147. doi: 10.1186/2193-1801-3-147 (accessed 3.8.2014).10.1186/2193-1801-3-147
Search in Google Scholar
Sade, L. A. (2011). Emerging selves, language learning and motivation through the lens of chaos. In Murray, G., Gao, X. & Lamb, T. (Eds.), Identity, motivation and autonomy in language learning. Bristol-Buffalo-Toronto: Multilingual Matters.
Search in Google Scholar
Seligman, M. E. P. (1999). President’s address. American Psychologist, 54, 559-562.
Search in Google Scholar
Smagorinsky, P., Cook, L. S., Moore, C., Jackson, A. Y., & Fry, P. G. (2004). Tensions in learning to teach. Accommodation and the development of a teaching identity. Journal of Teacher Education, 55(1), 8-24.10.1177/0022487103260067
Search in Google Scholar
Tan, K. H. K. (2013). Variation in teachers’ conceptions of alternative assessment in Singapore primary schools. Educational Research for Policy and Practice, 12, 21-41.10.1007/s10671-012-9130-4
Search in Google Scholar
Timostsuk, I. & Ugaste, A. (2010). Student teachers’ professional identity. Teaching and Teacher Education, 26, 1563-1570.10.1016/j.tate.2010.06.008
Search in Google Scholar
Trent, J. (2010). “My two masters”: Conflict, contestation, and identity construction within a teaching practicum. Australian Journal of Teacher Education, 35(7), 1-14.10.14221/ajte.2010v35n7.1
Search in Google Scholar
Trent, J., Gao, M. & Gu, M. (2014). Language teacher education in a multilingual context: Experiences from Hong Kong. Dordrecht-Heidelberg-New York-London: Springer.10.1007/978-94-007-7392-9
Search in Google Scholar
Tsui, A. B. M. (2007). Complexities of identity formation: A narrative inquiry of an EFL teacher. TESOL Quarterly, 41(4), 657-680.10.1002/j.1545-7249.2007.tb00098.x
Search in Google Scholar
Walkington, J. (2005). Becoming a teacher: encouraging development of teacher identity through reflective practice. Asia-Pacific Journal of Teacher Education, 33(1), 53-64.10.1080/1359866052000341124
Search in Google Scholar
Werbińska, D. (2009). Dylematy etyczne nauczycieli języków obcych. Warszawa: Fraszka Edukacyjna.
Search in Google Scholar
Werbińska, D. (2014). Stability and variability in pre-service language teachers’ beliefs. In Pawlak, M. (Ed.), Classroom-oriented research (pp. 33-54). Dordrecht-Heidelberg-New York-London: Springer.
Search in Google Scholar
Woods, D. & Cakir, H. (2011). Two dimensions of teacher knowledge: The case of communicative language teaching. System, 39, 381-390.10.1016/j.system.2011.07.010
Search in Google Scholar
Yuan, R. & Lee, I. (2014). Pre-service teachers’ changing beliefs in the teaching practicum: Three cases in an EFL context. System, 44, 1-12.10.1016/j.system.2014.02.002
Search in Google Scholar

Becoming an English language teacher: Continuities and Discontinuities

Abstract

Paradigm

My account