Explorando la construcción de la identidad lingüística de docentes en oficio al interior de la enseñanza del inglés y prácticas sociales

Abstract

In-service English teachers construct their linguistic identity in a context that is permeated by the standardization of the language. Bilingualism policies, curricula and the systematization of English involve a set of pedagogical practices that create an artificial profile of English language speakers. Here, identity is constituted within power dynamics that impose an Anglo North American paradigm of the language, distinguishing native speakers from non-native speakers. This thesis not only describes in-service teachers’ linguistic identity from an instrumental perspective but also relates individual, social, and institutional aspects that generate unequal relationships within the classroom. Drawing on narratives as an alternative to reflect, analyze, and make sense of language experiences, this study re-constructs in-service teachers’ linguistic identity through written life stories that are split into four dimensions: school, university, workplace, and future projections. In connection with a semi-structured interview, it grasps at a co-interpretive process in which the informants-participants and the researcher recreate the most significant moments, people and places that gave rise to the current identity. The findings unveil educational, political, and economic aspects that overlap a native speakerism paradigm of the language, which has an implication in the construction of the self and the notion of English that teachers disseminate in their everyday practices. In this respect, this study urges language educators and educational institutions to foster spaces of critical reflection concerning standardization and its social effects in identity development.