Resumen de Constructing the professional identity of EFL teachers through languaging: a narrative inquiry
Interest in narrative research in the educational domain, with a particular focus on teachers' biographies and personal stories, sprang in the early 1990s following Connel/y and Clandini's (J 990) landmark paper. Theoretically grounded in Vygostky's sociocultural theory (SCT) and the newly-emerged concept of languaging (see: Swain 2006a, b;
Swain and Lapkin 2011; Lankiewicz, this volume), the current study aims to contribute to the growing body of research on teacher narratives by delving into a poorly researched niche of narratives of experienced EFL teachers. Six EFL teachers from Poland affiliated with non-public primary and secondary schools participated in the study and shared their career narratives. Data obtained in the study were subjected to thematic analysis.
The analysis gave an insight into the teachers ' perception of their professional identity, strongly interrelated with personal identity, and showed its formation as a dynamic process influenced by the surrounding social, cultural and institutional environment, as well as personal experience. It has also shown how /anguaging through its meaningmaking potential helps the teachers (re)construct and (re)define their identities. As far as their practical application is concerned, teacher narratives have great potential in teacher training, providing novice teachers with realistic insights into the teaching career and offering the experienced ones a key to deeper awareness and understanding of their teaching practices which might lead to a constructive change and development.
