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Chapter 11. Duoethnographic inquiry into translingualism and language teacher identity

Challenges and opportunities
  • Zhe (Zoey) Zheng and Luke Lawrence
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Reflexive and Reflective Research Approaches in Applied Linguistics
This chapter is in the book Reflexive and Reflective Research Approaches in Applied Linguistics

Abstract

Recent investigations into and by language teachers have highlighted the importance of individual identity and social context in determining the scope or ability to carry out practices and enact preferred identities ( & Lawrence, 2020). In this chapter we take up the call issued by and (2019) to examine the ways in which “contradicting ies about language and language teaching and their experience of power, privilege, marginalization or other lived experiences and identities interplay in enacting translingual dispositions” (p. 361). We do this by adopting a two-stage duoethnographic approach to explore the experiences of two migrant English teachers; one a “non-native speaker” teaching in the “native” English environment of the UK, and the other a “native speaker” teaching in the “non-native” environment of Japan. The study reveals that and in the local communities have heavily influenced our willingness to claim a bilingual identity, preventing us from adopting a translingual disposition. It also puts constraints on our autonomy in professional identity negotiation and results in us de-emphasising or concealing our national origins. However, our stories also show that teachers’ small acts of resistance can afford them the possibility to challenge existing ideologies.

Abstract

Recent investigations into and by language teachers have highlighted the importance of individual identity and social context in determining the scope or ability to carry out practices and enact preferred identities ( & Lawrence, 2020). In this chapter we take up the call issued by and (2019) to examine the ways in which “contradicting ies about language and language teaching and their experience of power, privilege, marginalization or other lived experiences and identities interplay in enacting translingual dispositions” (p. 361). We do this by adopting a two-stage duoethnographic approach to explore the experiences of two migrant English teachers; one a “non-native speaker” teaching in the “native” English environment of the UK, and the other a “native speaker” teaching in the “non-native” environment of Japan. The study reveals that and in the local communities have heavily influenced our willingness to claim a bilingual identity, preventing us from adopting a translingual disposition. It also puts constraints on our autonomy in professional identity negotiation and results in us de-emphasising or concealing our national origins. However, our stories also show that teachers’ small acts of resistance can afford them the possibility to challenge existing ideologies.

Chapters in this book

  1. Prelim pages i
  2. Table of contents v
  3. List of contributors vii
  4. Chapter 1. Reflectivity and reflexivity in qualitative research and scholarship 1
  5. Part I. Reflectivity and reflexivity in research
  6. Chapter 2. Transformative possibilities of autoethnography 22
  7. Chapter 3. Duoethnography 41
  8. Chapter 4. Toward an understanding of currere as a research method 61
  9. Chapter 5. Telling stories matters 80
  10. Part II. Reflectivity and reflexivity and Applied Linguistics Research
  11. Chapter 6. Affordances and limitations of autoethnography as a research method in Applied Linguistics 98
  12. Chapter 7. The role of duoethnography in critical ELT research 120
  13. Chapter 8. Currere 139
  14. Chapter 9. Narrative inquiry in Applied Linguistics Research 152
  15. Part III. Reflective and reflexive studies
  16. Chapter 10. An autoethnography of migration, language, and power dynamics 172
  17. Chapter 11. Duoethnographic inquiry into translingualism and language teacher identity 188
  18. Chapter 12. Past, present, and future 206
  19. Chapter 13. When children don’t learn to read 223
  20. Coda
  21. Chapter 14. Contemporary Applied Linguistics Research 248
  22. Author index 267
  23. Subject index 269
https://doi.org/10.1075/rmal.8.11zhe

Chapters in this book

  1. Prelim pages i
  2. Table of contents v
  3. List of contributors vii
  4. Chapter 1. Reflectivity and reflexivity in qualitative research and scholarship 1
  5. Part I. Reflectivity and reflexivity in research
  6. Chapter 2. Transformative possibilities of autoethnography 22
  7. Chapter 3. Duoethnography 41
  8. Chapter 4. Toward an understanding of currere as a research method 61
  9. Chapter 5. Telling stories matters 80
  10. Part II. Reflectivity and reflexivity and Applied Linguistics Research
  11. Chapter 6. Affordances and limitations of autoethnography as a research method in Applied Linguistics 98
  12. Chapter 7. The role of duoethnography in critical ELT research 120
  13. Chapter 8. Currere 139
  14. Chapter 9. Narrative inquiry in Applied Linguistics Research 152
  15. Part III. Reflective and reflexive studies
  16. Chapter 10. An autoethnography of migration, language, and power dynamics 172
  17. Chapter 11. Duoethnographic inquiry into translingualism and language teacher identity 188
  18. Chapter 12. Past, present, and future 206
  19. Chapter 13. When children don’t learn to read 223
  20. Coda
  21. Chapter 14. Contemporary Applied Linguistics Research 248
  22. Author index 267
  23. Subject index 269
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