Home Identity Transformation and Autonomy Development of Female Student English Teachers From Rural China
Article
Licensed
Unlicensed Requires Authentication

Identity Transformation and Autonomy Development of Female Student English Teachers From Rural China

  • Yuanyuan Liu

    Yuanyuan LIU is a lecturer at the School of Foreign Languages, Ludong University, and is doing post-doctoral research at Shanghai International Studies University. She obtained her PhD. from Beijing Foreign Studies University and worked as a visiting scholar at Smith College, USA. She researches language learning and identity.

    EMAIL logo
    , Xiaonan Li

    Xiaonan LI is an undergraduate at Ludong University in China. Her research interest is teacher identity and autonomy.

    and Xiaoyan Xing

    Xiaoyan XING is a graduate student at University College London, UK. She obtained her bachelor’s degree from Ludong University in 2018. Her research interests are language and identity, autonomy development and second language acquisition.

Published/Copyright: May 16, 2019
Become an author with De Gruyter Brill

Abstract

Previous studies on Chinese English teachers’ identity and autonomy have overlooked the group of female student-teachers (FSTs) from rural areas. Drawing on data from questionnaire responses, narrative frames and semi-structured interviews with research participants, this study first depicts the trajectories of identity construction and autonomy development of nine female student-teachers, and then identifies three main factors that affected their transformation from English learners to student English teachers, and the development of autonomy in such a process. The three factors are gendered ideology, affinity groups and family finance. This study concludes with some implications for policy makers and teacher educators on how to empower female student English teachers from rural China to transform from English learners to English teachers, and how to enhance their autonomy in such a transformation.

About the authors

Yuanyuan Liu

Yuanyuan LIU is a lecturer at the School of Foreign Languages, Ludong University, and is doing post-doctoral research at Shanghai International Studies University. She obtained her PhD. from Beijing Foreign Studies University and worked as a visiting scholar at Smith College, USA. She researches language learning and identity.

Xiaonan Li

Xiaonan LI is an undergraduate at Ludong University in China. Her research interest is teacher identity and autonomy.

Xiaoyan Xing

Xiaoyan XING is a graduate student at University College London, UK. She obtained her bachelor’s degree from Ludong University in 2018. Her research interests are language and identity, autonomy development and second language acquisition.

References

Barkhuizen, G., Benson, P., & Chik, A. (2014). Narrative inquiry in language teaching and learning research New York: Routledge.10.4324/9780203124994Search in Google Scholar

Barkhuizen, G. (2016). A short story approach to analyzing teacher (imagined) identities over time. TESOL Quarterly 50(3), 655-683.10.1002/tesq.311Search in Google Scholar

Beijaard, D., Meijer, P. C., & Verloop, N. (2004). Reconsidering research on teachers’ professional identity. Teaching and Teacher Education 20, 107-128.10.1016/j.tate.2003.07.001Search in Google Scholar

Benson, P. (2007). Autonomy in language teaching and learning. Language Teaching 40(1), 21-40.10.1017/S0261444806003958Search in Google Scholar

Benson, P. (2011). Teaching and researching autonomy (2nd ed.). London: Pearson.Search in Google Scholar

Benson, P., & Huang, J. (2008). Autonomy in the transition from foreign language learning to foreign language teaching. DELTA: Revista de Documentacao de Estudos em Linguistica Teoricae Aplicada 24, 421-439.10.1590/S0102-44502008000300003Search in Google Scholar

Benson, P., & Nunan, D. (Eds.). (2005). Learner’s stories: Difference and diversity in language learning Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.Search in Google Scholar

Block, D. (2007). Second language identities New York: Continuum.Search in Google Scholar

Block, D., & Corona, V. (2016). Intersectionality in language and identity research. In S. Preece (Ed.), The Routledge handbook of language and identity (pp. 507-522). London: Routledge.Search in Google Scholar

Britzman, D. (2003). Practice makes practice: A critical study of learning to teach New York, NY: State University of New York Press.Search in Google Scholar

Chu, H. (2009). Integrating urban and rural education: System reconstruction and institutional innovation — The dualistic educational structure in China and its declassification. Educational Research 11, 3-10.Search in Google Scholar

Darvin, R., & Norton, B. (2015). Identity and a model of investment in applied linguistics. Annual Review of Applied Linguistics 35, 36-56.10.1017/S0267190514000191Search in Google Scholar

Farnsworth, V. (2010). Conceptualizing identity, learning and social justice in community-based learning. Teaching and Teacher Education 26, 1481-1489.10.1016/j.tate.2010.06.006Search in Google Scholar

Feng, A. (2009). English in China: Convergence and divergence in policy and practice. AILA Review 22, 85-102.10.1075/aila.22.07fenSearch in Google Scholar

Gao, X., & Xu, H. (2014). The dilemma of being English language teachers: Interpreting teachers’ motivation to teach and professional commitment in China’s hinterland regions. Language Teaching Research 18(1), 152-168.10.1177/1362168813505938Search in Google Scholar

Gee, J. P. (2000). Identity as an analytic lens for research in education. Review of Research in Education 25, 99-125.10.2307/1167322Search in Google Scholar

Gil, J. (2016). English language education policies in the People’s Republic of China. In R. Kirkpatrick (Ed.), English language education policy in Asia: Language policy 11 (pp. 49-90). Cham: Springer. doi: 10.1007/978-3-319-22464-0_3.10.1007/978-3-319-22464-0_3Search in Google Scholar

Gu, M., & Benson, P. (2015). The formation of English teacher identities: A cross-cultural investigation. Language Teaching Research 19(2), 187-206.10.1177/1362168814541725Search in Google Scholar

He, Y. L. (2011). The influence of feminization of normal school students on basic education teacher group. Educational Review (3), 23-25.Search in Google Scholar

Holec, H. (1981). Autonomy and foreign language learning Oxford: Pergamon Press.Search in Google Scholar

Holliday, A. (2003). Social autonomy: Addressing the dangers of culturism in TESOL. In D. Palfreyman & R. Smith (Eds.), Learner autonomy across cultures: Language education perspectives (pp. 110-126). Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan.10.1057/9780230504684_7Search in Google Scholar

Hong, J. Y. (2010). Pre-service and beginning teachers’ professional identity and its relation to dropping out of the profession. Teaching and Teacher Education 26, 1530-1543.10.1016/j.tate.2010.06.003Search in Google Scholar

Huang, J. (2010). 教师身份·教师能动·教师自主:二十年从教经历的反思 [Teacher identity, teacher agency and teacher autonomy: Insights from my twenty-year teaching experiences]. Education Research Monthly (8), 27-31.Search in Google Scholar

Huang, J. (2011). A dynamic account of autonomy, agency and identity in (T)EFL learning. In G. Murray, X. S. Gao, & T. Lamb (Eds.), Identity, motivation and autonomy in language learning (pp. 229-246). Bristol: Multilingual Matters.10.21832/9781847693747-016Search in Google Scholar

Huang, J. (2013). Autonomy, agency and identity in foreign language learning and teaching Bern: Peter Lang.10.3726/978-3-0351-0558-2Search in Google Scholar

Huang, J., & Benson, P. (2013). Autonomy, agency and identity in foreign and second language education. Chinese Journal of Applied Linguistics 36(1), 6-27.10.1515/cjal-2013-0002Search in Google Scholar

Izadinia, M. (2013). A review of research on student-teachers’ professional identity. British Educational Research Journal 39, 694-713.10.1080/01411926.2012.679614Search in Google Scholar

Liu, Y., & Fisher, L. (2006). The development patterns of modern foreign language student-teachers’ conceptions of self and their explanations about change: Three cases. Teacher Development 10(3), 343-360.10.1080/13664530600922203Search in Google Scholar

Lu, X. Y. (Ed.). (2002). The report on social stratification research in contemporary China Beijing: Social Sciences Documentation Publishing House.Search in Google Scholar

Lu, H., & Luck, J. (2014). “I would study harder if I was a girl”: Gendered narratives of low-achieving male and high-achieving female EFL learners. Journal of Language, Identity, and Education 13, 1-15.10.1080/15348458.2013.835571Search in Google Scholar

Mackenzie, C. (2000). Imagining oneself otherwise. In C. Mackenzie & N. Stoljar (Eds.), Relational autonomy: Feminist perspectives on autonomy, agency, and the social self (pp. 124-150). Oxford: Oxford University Press.Search in Google Scholar

Ministry of Education of the People’s Republic of China. (2005). The new standards of English teaching for high schools. Retrieved from http://www.doc88.com/p-598323248017.htmlSearch in Google Scholar

Morgan, B., & Clarke, M. (2011). Identity in second language teaching and learning. In E. Hinkel (Ed.), Handbook of research in second language teaching and learning (Vol. II, pp. 817-836). New York: Routledge.Search in Google Scholar

Norton, B. (2013). Identity and language learning: Extending the conversation (2nd ed.). Bristol: Multilingual Matters.10.21832/9781783090563Search in Google Scholar

Olsen, B. (2008). Teaching what they learn, learning what they live Boulder: Paradigm Publishers.Search in Google Scholar

Pavlenko, A. (2007). Autobiographic narratives as data in applied linguistics. Applied Linguistics 28(2), 163-88.10.1093/applin/amm008Search in Google Scholar

Roness, D., & Smith, K. (2010). Stability in motivation during teacher education. Journal of Education for Teaching: International Research and Pedagogy 36(2), 169-185.10.1080/02607471003651706Search in Google Scholar

Ryan, R. M., & Deci, E. L. (2003). On assimilating identities to the self: A self-theory perspective on internalization and integrity determination within cultures. In M. R. Leary & J. Price Tangney (Eds.), Handbook of self and identity (pp. 253-272). New York: Guilford.Search in Google Scholar

Schmenk, B. (2005). Globalizing learner autonomy. TESOL Quarterly 39, 107-118.10.2307/3588454Search in Google Scholar

Simon-Maeda, A. (2004). The complex construction of professional identities: Female EFL educators in Japan speak out. TESOL Quarterly 38, 405-436.10.2307/3588347Search in Google Scholar

Tsui, A. B. M. (2007). The complexities of identity formation: A narrative inquiry of an EFL teacher. TESOL Quarterly41 657-680.10.1002/j.1545-7249.2007.tb00098.xSearch in Google Scholar

Wang, D., & Gao, M. (2013). Educational equality or social mobility: The value conflict between pre-service teachers and the Free Teacher Education Program in China. Teaching and Teacher Education 32, 66-74.10.1016/j.tate.2013.01.008Search in Google Scholar

Watson, C. (2006). Narratives of practice and the construction of identity in teaching. Teachers and Teaching: Theory and Practice 12(5), 509-526.10.1080/13540600600832213Search in Google Scholar

Yuan, R., & Lee, I. (2016). “I need to be strong and competent”: A narrative inquiry of a student-teacher’s emotions and identities in teaching practicum. Teachers and Teaching: Theory and Practice 22(7), 819-841.10.1080/13540602.2016.1185819Search in Google Scholar

Yuan, R., & Zhang, L. J. (2017). Exploring student-teachers’ motivation change in initial teacher education: A Chinese perspective. Teaching and Teacher Education 61, 142-152.10.1016/j.tate.2016.10.010Search in Google Scholar

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

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

Downloaded on 20.11.2025 from https://www.degruyterbrill.com/document/doi/10.1515/CJAL-2019-0002/html
Scroll to top button