“It’s in My Blood”: An Expatriate English Language Teacher’s Pedagogical Practices and Identity

Zeynep Aysan-Sahintas*
Research Assistant, Department of Foreign Language Education, Middle East Technical University, Turkey.
Periodicity:January - March'2019
DOI : https://doi.org/10.26634/jelt.9.1.15175

Abstract

In recent years, increasing numbers of English language teachers have started to work internationally. As a result, expatriate English language teachers experience a challenging situation in which they have to adapt to a new environment which may be ethnically, linguistically and/or culturally different than theirs as well as working for reconstructing and reshaping pedagogical practices and professional identities. How expatriate English language teachers, then, accommodate their pedagogical practices and professional identities to others' linguistic and cultural diversity to become accomplished professionals becomes an enthralling issue. Therefore, the aim of this study is to offer an account of pedagogical practices and professional identity of an accomplished expatriate teacher of English as a Foreign Language (EFL). Based on deep semi-structured interviews conducted with a single participant, the findings reveal that her pedagogical practices and professional identity basically stand on three pillars: cooperation with the students, colleagues and administration; linguistically and culturally responsive teaching; and inclusive approach. They indicate that she has been affected deeply by her own as well as the other stakeholders' past and current socio-cultural background in such a way that shapes her teaching and identity.

Keywords

Expatriate Teacher, Pedagogical Practices, Professional Identity, Dialogic Approach, Sociocultural Approach, English Language Teacher

How to Cite this Article?

Aysan-Sahintas, Z. (2019). “It’s in My Blood”: An Expatriate English Language Teacher’s Pedagogical Practices and Identity. i-manager’s Journal on English Language Teaching, 9(1), 1-13. https://doi.org/10.26634/jelt.9.1.15175

References

[1]. Alsup, J. (2006). Teacher identity discourses: Negotiating personal and professional spaces. Mahwah, N.J.: L. Erlbaum Associates.
[2]. Bakhtin, M. M. (1981). The dialogic imagination: Four essays. (Holquist, M., Ed.) (Emerson, C., & Holquist, M., Trans.) Austin: University of Texas Press
[3]. Bakhtin, M. M. (1984). Problems of Dostoevsky's poetics, (Emerson, C. Ed. & Trans.) Theory and History of Literature, 8, 124. London: University of Minnesota Press.
[4]. Bakhtin, M. M. (1994). Speech Genres. In P. Morris (Ed.) The Bakhtin Reader: Selected Writings of Bahtin, Medvedev, Voloshinov (pp. 80-87), London: Arnold Publishers.
[5]. Bruner, J. (1986). Actual Minds, Possible Worlds. London: Harvard University Press.
[6]. Carlson, J. A. (2010). Avoiding Traps in Member Checking. The Qualitative Report, 15(5), 1102-1113.
[7]. Clandinin, D. J. (1989). Developing rhythm in teaching: The narrative study of a beginning teacher's personal practical knowledge of classrooms. Curriculum Inquiry, 19(2), 121-141.
[8]. Clandinin, D. J. & Connelly, F. M. (2000). Narrative Inquiry: Experience and Story in Qualitative Research. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.
[9]. Diaz, R. M., Neal, C. N., & Amaya-Williams, M. (1992). The Social Origins of Self-regulation. In L.C. Moll (Ed.), Vygotsky and Education: Instructional Implications and Applications of Sociohistorical Theory (pp. 127-154). NY, US: Cambridge University Press.
[10]. Duff, P. A., & Uchida, Y. (1997). The negotiation of teachers' sociocultural identities and practices in post secondary EFL classrooms. Tesol Quarterly, 31(3), 451-486.
[11]. Farr, R. (1982). Interviewing: The social psychology of the interview. In Psychology for Occupational Therapists (pp. 151-170). Palgrave, London.
[12]. Fernyhough, C. (2008). Getting Vygotskian about theory of mind Mediation, dialogue, and the development of social understanding. Developmental Review, 28(2), 225-262.
[13]. Gutiérrez, K. D., Baquedano-López, P., Alvarez, H. H. & Chiu, M. M. (1999). Building a Culture of Collaboration through Hybrid Language Practices. Theory into Practice, 38(2), 87-93.
[14]. Hallman, H. L. (2014). Teacher identity as dialogic response: A Bakhtinian perspective. In Y. L. Cheung, S. B. Said & K. Park (Eds.), Advances and Current Trends in Language Teacher Identity Research (pp. 25-37). New York: Routledge.
[15]. Haworth, A. (1999). Bakhtin in the Classroom: What Constitutes a Dialogic Text? Some Lessons from Small Group Interaction. Language and Education, 13(2), 99- 117.
[16]. Holquist, M. (1990). Dialogism: Bakhtin and His World. London: Routledge.
[17]. Kachru, B. B. (1992). World Englishes: Approaches, issues and resources. Language Teaching, 25(1), 1-14.
[18]. Kuzmanić, M. (2009). Validity in qualitative research: Interview and the appearance of truth through dialogue. Horizons of Psychology, 18(2), 39-50.
[19]. Marchenkova, L. (2005). Language, culture, and self: The Bakhtin-Vygotsky encounter. In J.K. Hall., G. Vitanova & L. Marchenkova (Eds.), Dialogue with Bakhtin on second and foreign language learning. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum (pp.171-188).
[20]. McKnight, D. (2004). Task of the Teaching Life: Self Through Bakhtinian Dialogue and Ideological Engagement. Interchange, 35(3), 281-302.
[21]. McMillan, J., & Schumacher, S. (1993). Research in education: A conceptual introduction. New York: Harper Collins.
[22]. Patton, M. Q. (2002). Qualitative Research and Evaluation Methods. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications.
[23]. Philpott, C. (2014). Using narrative research as a method in teacher education: A sociocultural approach. Teacher Education Advancement Network Journal (TEAN), 6(1), 12-19.
[24]. Riffe, D., Lacy, S. & Fico, F. (2014). Analyzing Media Messages: Using Quantitative Content Analysis in Research. New York: Routledge.
[25]. Seidman, I. (2006). Interviewing as qualitative research: A guide for researchers in education and the rd social sciences (3 Ed.). New York, USA: Teachers College Press.
[26]. Stewart, T. T. (2010). A dialogic pedagogy: Looking to mikhail bakhtin for alternatives to standards period teaching practices. Critical Education, 1(6), 1-20.
[27]. Vygotsky, L. S. (1981). The genesis of higher mental functions. In J.V. Wertsch (Ed.), The Concept of Activity in Soviet Psychology (pp.144-188), Armonk, NY: M.E. Sharpe.
[28]. Vygotsky, L. S. (1997). Interaction Between Learning and Development. In M. Gauvain & M. Cole (Eds.),  Readings on the Development of Children (2nd Ed.) New York: W. H. Freeman and Company. (pp. 29-36).
[29]. Wells, G. (2010). Dialogic inquiry in education: Building on the legacy of Vygotsky. In Lee, C. D. & Smagorinsky, P. (Eds.), Vygotskian perspectives on literacy research: constructing meaning through collaborative inquiry. New York: Cambridge University Press. pp. 51-85.
[30]. Wenger, E. (1999). Communities of practice: Learning, meaning, and identity. Cambridge, NY, US: Cambridge University Press.
[31]. Wertsch, J. V. (1985). Vygotsky and the Social Formation of Mind. Cambridge MA: Harvard University Press.
[32]. Wertsch, J. V. (1992). The voice of rationality in a sociocultural approach to mind. In L.C. Moll (Ed.), Vygotsky and education: Instructional implications and applications of sociohistorical theory. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. (pp. 111-126),
[33]. Wolfe, S., & Alexander, R. J. (2008). Argumentation and dialogic teaching: Alternative pedagogies for a changing world. Beyond Current Horizons. Retrieved December 28, 2014, from http://www.robin alexander. org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2012/05/ wolfealexander.pdf
If you have access to this article please login to view the article or kindly login to purchase the article

Purchase Instant Access

Single Article

North Americas,UK,
Middle East,Europe
India Rest of world
USD EUR INR USD-ROW
Pdf 35 35 200 20
Online 35 35 200 15
Pdf & Online 35 35 400 25

Options for accessing this content:
  • If you would like institutional access to this content, please recommend the title to your librarian.
    Library Recommendation Form
  • If you already have i-manager's user account: Login above and proceed to purchase the article.
  • New Users: Please register, then proceed to purchase the article.