Betwixt and Between: A Narrative Inquiry of L2 Teacher Identity During Career Transition in China

• In Event: AERA Roundtable Session 13
  In Roundtable Session: Resonating Voices From Around the World

Abstract

Under globalisation, many elite universities in China have mandated a new English for Academic Purposes (EAP) curriculum as part of their internationalisation strategies. The new EAP curriculum has brought dramatic changes L2 English language teachers’ lives. Due to the rising demand for EAP teachers in universities, the teachers, who used to be trained to teach the “old” General English (GE) curriculum, have to switch career tracks to EAP teaching for survival. This narrative inquiry examined three GE teachers’ complex career transition experiences to EAP teaching in their respective institutions. Drawing on the approach of narrative inquiry and the theories of teacher identity and liminality, this paper examines the teachers’ retelling of the challenges and identity tensions in changing times.

Author

• Xin Bi, Harbin Institute of Technology, Shenzhen