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Autonomy in English Language Teaching: A Case Study of Novice Secondary School Teachers in Hong Kong

  • Jing Huang

    Jing HUANG is an assistant professor in the Department of Education Studies at Hong Kong Baptist University (HKBU). His research is in learner and teacher autonomy, TESOL teacher education and educational ethnography.

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    , Kenny Yau Ning Lock

    Kenny Yau Ning LOCK graduated from Hong Kong Baptist University with an Honors Degree in Bachelor of Arts in English Language and Literature and Bachelor of Education in English Language Teaching. He subsequently obtained a Master of Arts in Linguistics at the Chinese University of Hong Kong and worked in Hong Kong Baptist University as a senior research assistant.

    and Feng Teng

    Feng TENG is a PhD candidate in the Department of Education Studies at Hong Kong Baptist University. His main research interests include identity research, L2 writing, and vocabulary development.

Published/Copyright: May 16, 2019
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Abstract

Following years of pre-service teacher education, novice teachers are often enthusiastic about embarking on the journey in the teaching profession. However, they may not always possess the internal capacity and institutional support to take effective control of their teaching. This paper reports on a case study of the teaching lives of two novice secondary school ESL (English as a second language) teachers in Hong Kong, drawing on qualitative data gathered through individual face-to-face interviews, and supplemented by email exchanges and telephone conversations, over a one-year period. The study investigates how novice English teachers develop their teacher autonomy, and what factors contribute to their development as autonomous English teachers. The paper concludes that novice English teachers in Hong Kong possess the capacity and are also ready for autonomy, and that an invitational, supportive and collaborative school environment plays a decisive role in affording ample opportunities for novices to develop their autonomy in language teaching. The study suggests that novice teachers should become critically aware of the affordances (opportunities, possibilities, invitations, enablements) in their working conditions, and should meanwhile exercise their teacher agency to act on these affordances to pursue their personal-professional development.

About the authors

Jing Huang

Jing HUANG is an assistant professor in the Department of Education Studies at Hong Kong Baptist University (HKBU). His research is in learner and teacher autonomy, TESOL teacher education and educational ethnography.

Kenny Yau Ning Lock

Kenny Yau Ning LOCK graduated from Hong Kong Baptist University with an Honors Degree in Bachelor of Arts in English Language and Literature and Bachelor of Education in English Language Teaching. He subsequently obtained a Master of Arts in Linguistics at the Chinese University of Hong Kong and worked in Hong Kong Baptist University as a senior research assistant.

Feng Teng

Feng TENG is a PhD candidate in the Department of Education Studies at Hong Kong Baptist University. His main research interests include identity research, L2 writing, and vocabulary development.

Acknowledgements

The work described in this paper was supported by a grant from the Research Grants Council of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, China (GRF Project No. HKBU 12403214).

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Published Online: 2019-05-16
Published in Print: 2019-03-26

© 2019 FLTRP, Walter de Gruyter, Cultural and Education Section British Embassy

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