Understanding tertiary EFL teacher learning and identity development: a cultural-historical activity theory perspective

• LI, XIA ^[1] ; XU, JINFEN ^[2]
  1. [1] JIANGSU UNIVERSITY, ZHENJIANG, CHINA
  2. [2] HUAZHONG UNIVERSITY OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY, WUHAN, CHINA (Corresponding author)
• Localización: Porta Linguarum: revista internacional de didáctica de las lenguas extranjeras, ISSN 1697-7467, Nº. Extra 9 (Nuevas tendencias y prácticas en el desarrollo profesional del profesorado en contextos EFL/ESL), 2023, págs. 251-271
• Idioma: inglés
• DOI: 10.30827/portalin.vi2023c.29652
• Títulos paralelos:
  • Comprensión del aprendizaje y el desarrollo de la identidad del profesorado de EFL terciario: una perspectiva de la teoría de la actividad histórico-cultural
• Enlaces
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• Dialnet Métricas: 1 Cita
• Resumen
  • español

    Aunque los estudios actuales han realizado respectivamente muchas investigaciones sobre el aprendizaje y la identidad de los docentes son limitados los estudios empíricos que examinan la combinación de estos dos componentes. Este estudio, basado en la teoría de la actividad histórico-cultural, tiene como objetivo explorar los procesos específicos de aprendizaje de dos profesoras universitarias de inglés y cómo desarrollan sus identidades en el aprendizaje. Las fuentes de datos incluyen observaciones, entrevistas, comunicaciones informales y artefactos relacionados con el aprendizaje y la construcción de identidad de los dos participantes. Los resultados revelan que el aprendizaje docente es un proceso de aprendizaje expansivo que comienza con eventos desencadenantes, y la reflexión impregna todas las fases de dicho aprendizaje expansivo. Además, el aprendizaje docente está impulsado por múltiples contradicciones. Frente a estas contradicciones, los docentes ejercen su agencia, negocian con otras personas significativas y cruzan varios límites en sus actividades de aprendizaje, lo que eventualmente promueve el desarrollo de su identidad. Los resultados brindan inspiraciones para futuras exploraciones sobre el aprendizaje y la identidad docente.

  • English

    Though current scholarship has conducted much research on teacher learning and teacher identity respectively, there are limited empirical studies examining the combination of these two constructs. This study, drawing upon cultural-historical activity theory, aims at exploring two tertiary EFL teachers’ specific learning processes and how they develop their identities through learning. Data sources include observations, interviews, informal communications and artifacts concerning the two participants’ learning and identity constructions. The findings reveal that teacher learning is an expansive learning process that starts with triggering events, and reflection permeates all the phases of teachers’ expansive learning. Besides, teacher learning is driven by multiple contradictions. Faced with these contradictions, teachers exert their agency, negotiate with significant others and cross various boundaries in their learning activities, which eventually promotes their identity development. The findings provide implications for further explorations of teacher learning and teacher identity.

    FUNDING INFORMATION.

    This work was supported by the [Youth Fund for Humanities and Social Sciences Research of the Ministry of Education] under Grant [22YJC740041]; and [General Project of Philosophy and Social Science Research in Universities] under Grant [2022SJYB2210]. 

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