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No. 38 (2021)
Continuous publication

Language pedagogy

The The dynamic process of student-teachers’ construction of identity as future teachers

https://doi.org/10.19053/0121053X.n38.2021.11205

Published 2021-07-19

  • Nancy Maria Torres Cepeda
    • ,
  • Bertha Ramos Holguín

Nancy Maria Torres Cepeda
Universidad Pedagógica y Tecnológica de Colombia

Bertha Ramos Holguín
Universidad Pedagógica y Tecnológica de Colombia

Abstract

This paper reports the findings of a qualitative narrative-inquiry study aimed at exploring what English-as-a-Foreign-Language (EFL) student-teachers’ life stories revealed about their identity construction as future teachers. The project was carried out among eighth-semester student-teachers from a public university in Tunja, Boyaca (Colombia). Hence, the data collection drew upon written life stories and in-depth interviews. Findings suggest that there are some critical factors that helped student-teachers construct their identities as future EFL teachers. These factors are all tied to previous experiences of student-teachers as language learners themselves, a connection and affiliation they establish with their teacher educators as projected images they have of themselves as future teachers. Moreover, real teaching experiences were opportunities for student-teachers to make sense of the myriad issues education involves, which made them, develop positions towards education as future teachers.

Keywords

identity, teacher identity, life stories, English as a Foreign Language, student-teachers, agency

PDF (Español)

Author Biography

Bertha Ramos Holguín

Bertha Ramos-Holguín holds a Ph.D in Education Sciences  from Universidad Pedagógica y Tecnológica de Colombia (UPTC), an M.A in Applied Linguistics to the Teaching of English as a Foreign Language  and a B.A in Modern Languages from Universidad Distrital Francisco José de Caldas. She is currently a researcher and an English professor in the School of Languages at UPTC.  As part of the research group TONGUE, she has authored and coauthored research academic papers and English textbooks as a result of her research interest in EFL learning and teaching. She has also been part of diverse academic and scientific committees in tertiary institutions in Colombia.

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