On the Way to Professionalisation: A Narrative Inquiry On Pre-Service L2 German Teachers’ Emerging Language Teacher Identities
Resource type
Conference Paper not in Proceedings
Status
Presented
Recommended form of citation (APA)
Rütti-Joy, O. (2025, November 20-21). On the Way to Professionalisation: A Narrative Inquiry On Pre-Service L2 German Teachers’ Emerging Language Teacher Identities [Konferenzbeitrag]. International Symposium on Language Teacher Identity, November 20-21 2025, Paderborn, Germany.
Author(s)
PHSG Organisation name
Project(s)
License Condition
All rights reserved
Topic PHSG
Sprachliche und literarische Bildung
Fields of Science and Technology (OECD)
Languages and Literature
Abstract
Language Teacher Identity (LTI) describes the way language teachers perceive themselves, who they are in relation to their teaching practice, and how their colleagues and learners perceive them (Barkhuizen, 2021; Yazan, 2022). LTI has a considerable influence on how language teachers teach, how they theorise their practice, and how they interact with their peers (Yazan, 2022). To gain a deeper understanding of language teaching and learning and equally on the professionalization processes of language teachers, it is thus necessary to know about LTIs (Barkhuizen, 2016; Varghese et al., 2005). This requires knowledge of the interrelated facets (Yazan, 2018) that contribute to the construction of pre-service language teachers’ identities before and during their teacher training (Barkhuizen, 2021) and how these relate to their professionalization process. Common facets include their language biographies, language teaching and learning experiences (Trent, 2012), and their imagined experiences of language teaching in future contexts (Barkhuizen, 2016).
This paper presents the results of a narrative inquiry which investigated the emerging LTIs of two pre-service German as a Foreign Language teachers in relation with their language biographies and language learning experiences in their final stages of teacher training. The Language Experience and Proficiency Questionnaire (LEAP-Q, Marian et al., 2007) was employed to access the participants’ language biographies. In an iterative 3-stage process of Narrative Knowledging in collaboration with the researcher (Barkhuizen, 2016), the participants composed written reflective narratives answering seven open questions (Sang, 2023) which addressed pivotal moments in the pre-service teachers’ lives in relation to their language learning and teaching experiences. Thematic content analysis identified themes that revealed shared and unique identity negotiation experiences with reference to their anticipated and emerging identities and their language biographies.
References
Barkhuizen, G. (2016). A Short Story Approach to Analyzing Teacher (Imagined) Identities Over Time. TESOL Quarterly, 50(3), 655–683. https://doi.org/10.1002/tesq.311
Barkhuizen, G. (2021). Language Teacher Identity. In H. Mohebbi & C. Coombe (Hrsg.), Research Questions in Language Education and Applied Linguistics: A Reference Guide (S. 549–553). Springer International Publishing. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-79143-8_96
Marian, V., Blumenfeld, H. K., & Kaushanskaya, M. (2007). The Language Experience and Proficiency Questionnaire (LEAP-Q): Assessing Language Profiles in Bilinguals and Multilinguals. Journal of Speech, Language, and Hearing Research: JSLHR, 50(4), 940–967. https://doi.org/10.1044/1092-4388(2007/067)
Sang, Y. (2023). Seeing teacher identity through teachers’ beliefs: Narratives of pre-service EFL teachers in China. Language Teaching Research, 13621688231165349. https://doi.org/10.1177/13621688231165349
Trent, J. (2012). The Discursive Positioning of Teachers: Native-Speaking English Teachers and Educational Discourse in Hong Kong. TESOL Quarterly, 46(1), 104–126. https://doi.org/10.1002/tesq.1
Varghese, M., Morgan, B., Johnston, B., & Johnson, K. A. (2005). Theorizing Language Teacher Identity: Three Perspectives and Beyond. Journal of Language, Identity & Education, 4(1), 21–44. https://doi.org/10.1207/s15327701jlie0401_2
Yazan, B. (2018). A conceptual framework to understand language teacher identities. Journal of Second Language Teacher Education, 1(1), 21–48.
Yazan, B. (2022). A conceptual framework to understand language teacher identities. Second Language Teacher Education, 1(2), 185–208. https://doi.org/10.1558/slte.24908
This paper presents the results of a narrative inquiry which investigated the emerging LTIs of two pre-service German as a Foreign Language teachers in relation with their language biographies and language learning experiences in their final stages of teacher training. The Language Experience and Proficiency Questionnaire (LEAP-Q, Marian et al., 2007) was employed to access the participants’ language biographies. In an iterative 3-stage process of Narrative Knowledging in collaboration with the researcher (Barkhuizen, 2016), the participants composed written reflective narratives answering seven open questions (Sang, 2023) which addressed pivotal moments in the pre-service teachers’ lives in relation to their language learning and teaching experiences. Thematic content analysis identified themes that revealed shared and unique identity negotiation experiences with reference to their anticipated and emerging identities and their language biographies.
References
Barkhuizen, G. (2016). A Short Story Approach to Analyzing Teacher (Imagined) Identities Over Time. TESOL Quarterly, 50(3), 655–683. https://doi.org/10.1002/tesq.311
Barkhuizen, G. (2021). Language Teacher Identity. In H. Mohebbi & C. Coombe (Hrsg.), Research Questions in Language Education and Applied Linguistics: A Reference Guide (S. 549–553). Springer International Publishing. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-79143-8_96
Marian, V., Blumenfeld, H. K., & Kaushanskaya, M. (2007). The Language Experience and Proficiency Questionnaire (LEAP-Q): Assessing Language Profiles in Bilinguals and Multilinguals. Journal of Speech, Language, and Hearing Research: JSLHR, 50(4), 940–967. https://doi.org/10.1044/1092-4388(2007/067)
Sang, Y. (2023). Seeing teacher identity through teachers’ beliefs: Narratives of pre-service EFL teachers in China. Language Teaching Research, 13621688231165349. https://doi.org/10.1177/13621688231165349
Trent, J. (2012). The Discursive Positioning of Teachers: Native-Speaking English Teachers and Educational Discourse in Hong Kong. TESOL Quarterly, 46(1), 104–126. https://doi.org/10.1002/tesq.1
Varghese, M., Morgan, B., Johnston, B., & Johnson, K. A. (2005). Theorizing Language Teacher Identity: Three Perspectives and Beyond. Journal of Language, Identity & Education, 4(1), 21–44. https://doi.org/10.1207/s15327701jlie0401_2
Yazan, B. (2018). A conceptual framework to understand language teacher identities. Journal of Second Language Teacher Education, 1(1), 21–48.
Yazan, B. (2022). A conceptual framework to understand language teacher identities. Second Language Teacher Education, 1(2), 185–208. https://doi.org/10.1558/slte.24908
| Name of the event | Conference Host | Place of the event | Start date of the event | End date of the event |
International Symposium on Language Teacher Identity | Universität Paderborn | Paderborn | November 20, 2025 | November 21, 2025 |
Access Rights
metadata only (bibliographisch)
License Condition
All rights reserved
Rights Holder
Author(s)