EXPLORING THE FORMATION OF PROFESSIONAL IDENTITY OF NON-NATIVE PRE-SERVICE ENGLISH TEACHERS

Teachers’ professional identity development has been receiving increasing attention from teacher educators (Alsup, 2003). However, a relatively small number of studies have addressed the issue of professional identity formation of non-native teachers of English (Moussu & Llurda, 2008).

During the teacher preparation program, the pre-service teachers are continually reconstructing their self identity as well as their professional identity as a result of a variety of university courses and field experiences (Danielewicz, 2001). Each environment contributes differently to the student-teacher’s construction of knowledge and identity formation (Chong, Ling, & Chuan, 2011).

This study aims at investigating the effect of the pre-service English program on the formation of the professional identity of the student-teachers at the Faculty of Pedagogy at the Lebanese University. Seventeen female participants took part in this study. These student-teachers filled the Professional Identity Survey at the beginning and end of their senior year. Focus group interviews were also used to collect data. Results showed that there was no statistical significance in the difference in means in the pre and post tests although there was a slight increase in the post means. Participants admitted that their enrollment in the pre-service program made them change their mind about the profession of the teacher which they viewed now as more demanding and challenging. This small convenient sample of participants could be a limitation to this study. More research is recommended to explore the formation of the teacher identity of non-native English speaking student-teachers.