Professional Identity Of Female English Language Teachers In Chinese High Schools:A Multi-Case Study

Given that female teachers make the most dominant group of English language teachers in Chinese senior high schools,their professional development plays a decisive role in English proficiency of students and,largely speaking,English education at secondary schools.L2 teacher education and professional development has been attracting increasingly intense interest since the1990 s,but female English language teachers(FELTs)at Chinese high schools still remain neglected by academia of this domain.This study combines Wenger’s(1998)practical community theory and Mockler’s(2011a,b)teacher professional identity theory,using multiple case analysis,focusing on the construction of professional identity of four domestic high school English female teachers of different ages.Its focus is placed upon how their professional trajectories are perceived and practiced,and how their personal experience(including gender),professional context(including disciplinary)and external political environment are conflicted,negotiated and aligned in the reform of College Entrance Examination(English Subject)across China.Results show that: Among these four FELTs,(1)in addition to a highly positive image of committed teacher,strong devotion can be observed to the profession of English language teaching at Chinese high schools.Yet,variations exist in their different understandings of professional value,teacher-student relation,and teacher emotions.(2)These teachers demonstrate subtle discrepancies on the image of teachers,from traditional Chinese‘model’ of a lofty career to practitioner of an ordinary profession.(3)Identity identities such as personal identity,subject professional identity,social identity and institutional identity are competing in the construction of permitted and constrained professional identities;to be more specific,these female teachers display different professional trajectories under the interplay of their own social and family roles,and the institutional support from their communities of teaching.This study also discusses the inspiration and suggestions for Chinese high school English teaching reform and faculty building,as well as future research directions.