“I’ll do it in my own class”: novice language teacher identity construction in Turkey

ABSTRACT

This paper reports a longitudinal case study exploring the identity construction of a novice English as a Foreign Language (EFL) teacher in Turkey. The study applies sociocultural and post-structural approaches to teacher education and identity formation. It traces the teacher’s experiences of becoming and being a teacher drawing upon her reflective teaching narratives, her teaching diary, semi-structured interviews, and the researchers’ observation notes. The findings suggest that some features of the induction programmes may negatively affect the novice teachers’ construction of a language teacher identity (LTI). Specifically, the negative effect is due to not allowing trainees to experiment or apply their pedagogical perspective in the classroom, or to participate in the classroom on equal levels with their mentor-teachers. The study presents a model that explicates how the LTIs of novice teachers shift from being an imagined to an imposed identity shaped by various constructs: beliefs about teaching and learning, pre-service education, dynamic relations in communities of practice, and contextual factors. The implications for further research are discussed to address LTI construction in EFL contexts.

KEYWORDS:

• Identity construction
• imagined identity
• imposed identity
• longitudinal case study
• mismatched mentorship
• novice teacher

Acknowledgments

We express our kindest appreciations and gratitude to Prof. Dr. Sehnaz Sahinkarakas for her generous support and help throughout the paper. We are grateful to the APJE editors and the anonymous reviewers for their comments and suggestions on earlier versions of this article which contributed to improving the quality of the paper. We are also thankful to Professor Deniz Ortactepe for her significant comments and contributions on an earlier version of this paper.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Fatma Tokoz Goktepe

Fatma Tokoz Goktepe currently works as an instructor in English Language Teaching Department at Cag University and is obtaining her PhD in English Language Teaching at Eastern Mediterranean University, North Cyprus. She received her MA degree from University of Essex in 2009. Her research interests include foreign language education, teacher education, and professional identity. She has published articles on various aspects of foreign language learning.

Naciye Kunt

Naciye Kunt is aprofessor of applied linguistics in the Foreign Language Education Department of Eastern Mediterranean University, in North Cyprus. She earned her BA in English Language Teaching, Marmara University, Istanbul, Turkey; MA in TESL & TEFL and PhD in applied linguistics at the University of Texas at Austin, USA. Her research interests include learner systems, second/foreign language teacher education, teachers' identities, multilingualism, cultural pedagogies, social justice in TESOL, language learning in conflictual contexts, and young language learners.