Professional Identity of Secondary School EFL Teachers An Investigation into Identity Formation and Types of Identities Claimed

Abstract

This study aimed at investigating the professional identity of secondary school English as foreign language
(EFL) teachers in the Sidama Regional state, Ethiopia. It mainly focused on EFL teachers‟ identity
formation and the types of professional identities they claim. A narrative inquiry, as a popular form of
qualitative research approach was employed to gather data from purposively selected 16 EFL teachers from
five secondary schools. Narrative interviews and focus group discussions were used to generate the data.
The data was analysed based on the grounded theory approach. The results indicated that EFL teachers‟
professional identity formation process is a gradual, continuous, and complex process. Exposure to native
speakers, inspiration from role model teachers, university courses, collegial discussions, taking trainings, and
the day-to-day activities of teaching English were found to mediate the formation of identity. The findings
also indicate some of the claimed professional identities of EFL teachers subsuming: subject matter experts,
pedagogical experts, and didactical experts, particularly inspirers, socialisers, entertainers, and actors. The
results, thus, imply that close attention should be paid to EFL teachers‟ professional identity formation
trajectories and the types of professional identities they claim in order to establish strong professional
identities