Narratives of Desire, Love, Imagination, and Fluidity: Becoming an English Teacher in a University Preparation Program

Authors

  • María Cristina Sarasa Author CIMEd, Facultad de Humanidades, Universidad Nacional de Mar del Plata, Argentina http://orcid.org/0000-0003-0849-2911
  • Luis Gabriel Porta Author CIMEd, Facultad de Humanidades, Universidad Nacional de Mar del Plata and CONICET, Argentina http://orcid.org/0000-0002-5828-8743

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.5294/laclil.v11i1.9133

Keywords:

second language instruction, teacher education, identity, qualitative analysis

Abstract

This is a narrative study into the co-construction of teaching identities narrated by twenty-four undergraduate students in the context of an English language teacher education program in Argentina. Teacher identities are defined in the literature as co-authored stories of living and becoming. Our method uses narrative inquiry to study lived experiences as co-narrated phenomena. The narrative analysis of different texts gathered in the teacher education program allowed the co-composition of each participant’s identity story. Results first display thematizations of identity strands in these narratives involving emotions—love, desire, imagination, and fluidity. Next, participants’ negotiation of their processes of becoming through these emotions are retold. The discussion examines results considering state-of-the-art literature. The conclusions summarize the implications of the research for English language teacher initial university education.

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Author Biographies

María Cristina Sarasa, CIMEd, Facultad de Humanidades, Universidad Nacional de Mar del Plata, Argentina

Maria Cristina Sarasa holds a Doctorate in Educational Sciences. She works as a full time tenured professor and English language teacher educator in the Department of Modern Languages at the School of Humanities, Universidad Nacional de Mar del Plata, Argentina. She is a researcher with her University’s Multidisciplinary Educational Research Center (CIMED). Her research interests include English language teacher education, professional identity, and narrative inquiry.

Luis Gabriel Porta, CIMEd, Facultad de Humanidades, Universidad Nacional de Mar del Plata and CONICET, Argentina

Luis Gabriel Porta holds a Doctorate in Pedagogy. He works as a full time tenured professor in the Department of Educational Sciences at the School of Humanities, Universidad Nacional de Mar del Plata, Argentina. He is also a researcher with The National Council for Scientific and Technical Research (CONICET). He is director of the Multidisciplinary Educational Research Center (CIMED). His research interests include teacher education, biographical and narrative research, and decolonial pedagogies.

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Published

2018-09-07

How to Cite

Sarasa, M. C., & Porta, L. G. (2018). Narratives of Desire, Love, Imagination, and Fluidity: Becoming an English Teacher in a University Preparation Program. Latin American Journal of Content & Language Integrated Learning, 11(1). https://doi.org/10.5294/laclil.v11i1.9133

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Articles