Picture Your Identity: Proficient English Teachers’ Professional Identities in China

Abstract

Teacher identity remains an area of interest in teacher development research because of its importance in influencing a teacher’s professional practices, and the discussion of language teacher identity has come into public view with special attention attached to the field of teaching English to speakers of other languages (TESOL). Organized in China, this research presents Chinese English/TESOL teachers’ understanding of their professional identities demonstrated through drawing, an innovative research method that can reveal the participants’ inner and subconscious perceptions. Through content analysis, it is found that Chinese English teachers’ role identities are closely linked with human capital that includes subject knowledge, technical knowledge and pedagogical expertise. Meanwhile, their role identities are connected with their emotional capital, and most participants hold positive emotions with their profession. However, some Chinese English teachers are unsatisfied with their business value and thus hold a negative view towards their role identities. This highlights the need to achieve homeostasis in Chinese teaching system.