From Imagined Community To Practiced Community:A Study On The Transformation Of Preservice English Teachers’ Identities

Identity is an integral part of teachers’ professional development.It is an important variable affecting the professional development of English teachers.Also it is an important theoretical tool used to understand teachers’ professional development.To date,many scholars have done relevant research on preservice English teachers’ identity.However,most studies focus on the practiced identities and few studies focus on the transformation from imagined identities to practiced identities.This study aims to have a comprehensive understanding of the transformation process that take place at the beginning of teaching career.The researcher puts forward the following research questions in the study:(1)Before the internship,what are the preservice English teachers’ imagined identities like?(2)At the end of the internship,what are the preservice English teachers’ practiced identities like?(3)What factors result in the transformation from imagined identities to practiced identities?In order to answer these questions,a short story approach is adopted in this thesis to comprehensively explore the imagined identities and practiced identities of the four participants and the reasons for transformation.The short stories are respectively narrated by four interviewees and extracted by the researcher from the interview data.The major findings are as follows: All of the four participants presuppose their imagined identities before stepping into the senior high school.After three-month internship,they successfully transform their imagined identities into practiced ones.Two of the participants,June and Sunshine,turn the negative imagined identities into positive practiced identities.Before the internship,June thinks that she would disturb the normal teaching activities of the internship class,and Sunshine believes she would be a passive task performer.At the end of the internship,June realizes that she actually helps the instructor undertake part of the teaching work and acts as a helperin the internship class;Sunshine appreciates that she has become an active learner.The other two participants also succeeding in transforming imagined identities into practiced ones.After two-month internship,Zoey eventually becomes a learning cooperator of students,and Dora successfully learns a number of teaching methods from senior teachers.Both external factors,such as the students and instructors of the senior high school,and internal factors,such as individual educational backgrounds and self-development awareness,can promote the transformation of the imagined identities into practiced ones.Every preservice English teacher should have the confidence and the commitment that their imagined identities will be transformed into practiced identities in practice.The transformation of preservice English teachers’ identities is of great significance,which could affect their professional identities,teaching attitude,and teaching practice,and whether they are willing to continue teaching to a certain extent.Due to the author’s imperfect theoretical level and research ability,this thesis still has certain deficiencies,which deserve further research and more attention.