How Do Praxis-Oriented Themes Inform the Unity of Language Teachers’ Beliefs, Practices, and Identities? A Narrative Inquiry
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Yang Gao
Yang Gao is an associate professor at the School of Foreign Studies, Xi’an Jiaotong University. His research focuses on teacher beliefs, language policy and linguistic landscape.
Xiaochen Wang is a Ph.D. student at the School of Foreign Studies, Xi’an Jiaotong University. His research focuses on teacher education, second language acquisition and linguistic landscape.
Yaru Meng is a professor at the School of Foreign Studies, Xi’an Jiaotong University. Her research focuses on language assessment, dynamic assessment and language teaching & technology.
Abstract
Praxis, according to the Vygotskian thoughts and tenets, entails the unity of and dialectical relationship between theory and practice. As a vital concept grounded in sociocultural theory, praxis has received increasing attention among language teacher education scholars, typically over recent years (e. g., Johnson et al., 2020, 2022). Yet, there remains scant research through the lens, thus requiring extended efforts from researchers. To join the existing literature and bridge the gap, we explored how praxis- oriented themes may inform the development of professional beliefs and practices between mentor-mentee duos through TESOL-related programs. In addition, we investigated how the development of beliefs and practices may, in turn, inform the mentorships and contribute to the identity development of these duos. We adopted the narrative inquiry method and captured the participants’ experiences and emotional episodes over their mentoring journeys. We reported a common developmental path along the two duos’ mentoring journeys, while they differed in a few places. These journeys were found to unfold through a 3E pattern with three distinct stages, each contributing to the evolution of their beliefs and practices. These stages were identified as enhancing learning, embodying the mentor, and embracing heritage and identity. Accordingly, three different types of identities, including learner and apprentice, mentee and novice researcher, and language teacher and Chinese culture embodiment, were identified in the stages. Our study provides valuable insights for language teachers and teacher educators by shedding light on praxis-oriented themes that can enhance teacher professional development programs.
About the authors
Yang Gao is an associate professor at the School of Foreign Studies, Xi’an Jiaotong University. His research focuses on teacher beliefs, language policy and linguistic landscape.
Xiaochen Wang is a Ph.D. student at the School of Foreign Studies, Xi’an Jiaotong University. His research focuses on teacher education, second language acquisition and linguistic landscape.
Yaru Meng is a professor at the School of Foreign Studies, Xi’an Jiaotong University. Her research focuses on language assessment, dynamic assessment and language teaching & technology.
Acknowledgments
The research was supported by the National Social Science Fund Project of China “A Study on the Relationship Between Beliefs and Practices in Ideological and Political Education of Foreign Language Teachers in Universities” (23XYY005) and the XJTU Teaching Innovation Grant “Design, Application, and Assessment of the Narrative Pedagogy in Intercultural Academic Communication Basics” (2302Q-10).
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Articles in the same Issue
- Frontmatter
- Sociocultural Theory and Second Language Acquisition Guest Editors: Jinfen Xu & Lili Qin
- Sociocultural Theory and Second Language Acquisition: An Introduction
- Internal Relations and Dialectical Dance Steps in Vygotsky’s Cultural-Historical Psychology
- CSE3 Informed Dynamic Assessment of Northwest Rural Secondary School EFL Learners’ Reading Development
- Visual Analysis of Dynamic Assessment Research Based on CiteSpace (1990–2022)
- Examining the Construction of “Teaching Assessment Literacy”: A Case Study of Teacher Conceptual Development in Collaborative Research Practice
- How Do Praxis-Oriented Themes Inform the Unity of Language Teachers’ Beliefs, Practices, and Identities? A Narrative Inquiry
- Dynamic Development in L2 Written Complexity of Chinese EFL Learners
- Translanguaging as a Mediational Tool in the Process of Feedback in Second Language Writing
- Ethnic Minority Students’ English Learning Agency: An Activity Theory Perspective
- Abstracts
- Chinese Abstracts
Articles in the same Issue
- Frontmatter
- Sociocultural Theory and Second Language Acquisition Guest Editors: Jinfen Xu & Lili Qin
- Sociocultural Theory and Second Language Acquisition: An Introduction
- Internal Relations and Dialectical Dance Steps in Vygotsky’s Cultural-Historical Psychology
- CSE3 Informed Dynamic Assessment of Northwest Rural Secondary School EFL Learners’ Reading Development
- Visual Analysis of Dynamic Assessment Research Based on CiteSpace (1990–2022)
- Examining the Construction of “Teaching Assessment Literacy”: A Case Study of Teacher Conceptual Development in Collaborative Research Practice
- How Do Praxis-Oriented Themes Inform the Unity of Language Teachers’ Beliefs, Practices, and Identities? A Narrative Inquiry
- Dynamic Development in L2 Written Complexity of Chinese EFL Learners
- Translanguaging as a Mediational Tool in the Process of Feedback in Second Language Writing
- Ethnic Minority Students’ English Learning Agency: An Activity Theory Perspective
- Abstracts
- Chinese Abstracts
