Exploring Language Teacher Identity (LTI) Construction and Negotiation of Saudi in-service English language teachers engaged in a one year Abroad Teacher Development Program: a Narrative Inquiry

Abstract

Research on learner and teacher identity has gained momentum. In recent years, more attention has been shifted to teacher identity, and especially language teacher identity (LTI) and study abroad. However, exploring preservice and novice English language teachers’ identities on study abroad has been researched including periods before, during, or after an abroad learning or teaching experience. Therefore, my study attempts to investigate in-service English language teachers’ identity construction on a study aboard experience. More specifically, it aims to understand LTI construction and negotiation by qualitatively investigating LTI construction of three experienced English language teachers of Saudi background over time and space through positioning during their learning and teaching journey including their one-year study abroad experience, which is the top-down cascade BLCSI study abroad program. Drawing on positioning theory and three dimensions of narrative inquiry: temporality, sociality, and space in order to construct the participants’ stories and narratives, this narrative inquiry research obtains data through semi-structured interviews, research projects during the abroad experience, and the BLCSI study abroad policy documents. The stories narrated by the participants of the study are configured and thematically analyzed. Findings of the study show how the participants construct their LTI through encountered challenges during the study abroad experience. Data also revealed how the BLCSI program policy constructed their LTI and how they align their LTI with the persona in the BLCSI program policy, and how this changes throughout their learning and teaching journey. The findings further demonstrate how they negotiate their identity by agentively dealing with such challenges, through the influence of their surroundings, through positioning, and by envisioning their future. The study mainly highlights the importance of bottom-up study abroad programs for LTI construction in relation to teacher development in confirming of claims that support bottom-up design of teacher development programs.