What does competence mean during the transition to language teaching? Insights from future-oriented identities of Filipino NLTs

• Main Authors: Quinto, Edward Jay M., Kwon, Eunbi, Gaerlan, Marianne Jennifer M.
• Format: text
• Published: Animo Repository 2020
• Subjects: English teachers—Rating of—Philippines; Teacher effectiveness—Philippines; Language and Literacy Education; Teacher Education and Professional Development
• Online Access: https://animorepository.dlsu.edu.ph/faculty_research/11085
• Institution: De La Salle University

Beliefs about one’s competence have hounded individuals during normative life transitions. In this paper, we attempt to answer the question: What does competence mean among new language teachers (NLTs) as they transition into their role as English language teachers? To address this, we explored the notion of language teacher possible selves, which are identity relevant constructs about what NLTs hope to be or fear becoming (Kubanyiova, 2007). We drew data from interviews with NLTs (n=15), who were either pre-service language teachers in their final practicum semester or in-service language teachers in their initial year of teaching practice. The interview data were analyzed thematically to conjecture the predominance of competence-related future-oriented language teacher identities. We found that competence was indeed a salient dimension of NLT identity. This is seen in the emergence of a ‘competent language teacher self’ and a countervailing ‘incompetent language teacher self’ in the NLTs’ future oriented self-concept. NLTs were motivated by a desire to move toward competence in three aspects: knowledge, teaching confidence, and behavior toward teaching. On the other hand, they espoused a desire to move away from incompetence in two aspects: knowledge and teacher character. We discuss the implications of these language teacher identity constructs – NLT possible selves – for ELT preparation and practicum. Keywords: teacher competence, language teacher possible selves, language teacher identity, teacher transition, Filipino teachers