Identity reconstruction of an in-service teacher as a critical bilingual: an autoethnography

ABSTRACT

Purpose

This study presents the emergence of my dynamic bilingualism-induced critical bilingual identity by drawing upon Garcia and Wei’s translanguaging perspectives.

Design/Methodology/Approach

I adopted an autoethnographic approach focusing on teacher development through research and practice, supported by research on fostering dynamic bilingualism of emergent bilinguals in EFL contexts, which is used to review my memories and reflection. Using bilingualism ideologies as a conceptual framework, I interpret my experiences by deconstructing dominant monolingual ideology through embracing a more critical bilingual stance.

Findings

By enacting autoethnography as translanguaged research anchored to theoretical, methodological, and pedagogical turns, this study reveals its potential to conceptualize the complexities of translanguaging and thus forge these into a coherent ideology.

Originality/Value

With an open-ended paradigm, and its catalytic role in comprehending speaker-oriented language practices, it thus engenders criticality. This autoethnographic analysis of my introspective and retrospective data is hoped to open novel vistas for EFL teacher education and in-service EFL teacher training.

KEYWORDS:

• Translanguaging
• EFL teacher
• criticality
• teacher identity
• autoethnography

Acknowledgements

I am grateful to my MS and PhD advisors, late Prof Ali ARSLAN and Prof Kenan DİKİLİTAŞ respectively for providing insights and support.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Notes

1 All the names are pseudonyms.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Muhammet Yasar Yuzlu

Muhammet Yasar Yuzlu is an Assistant Professor at the Department of English Language Teaching (ELT) of Zonguldak Bülent Ecevit University, Zonguldak, Turkey. His research interests include in-service teacher education, criticality, ELF, and development of bilingual pedagogy through translanguaging.