The Experiences of Non-Native English Speaking Teachers and Their Professional Identity Constructions in an ESL Context
Based on the findings that NNES teachers' English competency was deeply related to their professional identity constructions, an implication of the study is that TESOL teacher education programs should provide safe opportunities for NNES teaching assistants and instructors to further develop their English proficiency and classroom language resources through a language improvement component built in their curriculum. Another implication draws attention to the importance of institutional support for NNES teachers in TESOL teacher education programs. Two of the NNES teachers in the present study explicitly mentioned how the supervisor's trust in NNES teachers helped them to view themselves as competent and qualified teachers of English. Given this finding, it is critical that teacher educators show their faith and confidence in NNES teachers as legitimate teachers of English by hiring more NNES teachers for available teaching positions and therefore increase their visibility in the field of TESOL.
University of Illinois - Urbana-Champaign
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University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign