Identity clashes of EFL instructors in Turkey with regard to pronunciation and intonation in English
Identity clashes of EFL instructors in Turkey
Abstract
Most of the time, foreign language teachers assume a different identity in addition to their native, national, ethnic, and cultural identities, which sometimes paves the way for an identity crisis on the part of these teachers. (Demirezen, 2007). While some researchers maintain that L1 is not necessarily an essential part of identity, some others put forward that L1 is an indispensable determinant of identity in teaching foreign languages for non-native speaking teachers. In this paper, the L1 identity of the non-native teachers of English and the reflections of it on their professional identity was handled concerning pronunciation and intonation. An online survey consisting of demographic information, professional identity questions, and bilingual identity questions were addressed to 60 non-native English instructors at 29 Turkish universities. The results on professional identity revealed that most of them pay attention to pronunciation teaching in their classes. Also, a significant difference between the ones who took phonology classes and who did not was found. As for the bilingual identity, it was illustrated that the academic qualifications of the instructors seem to affect their bilingual identity in a positive way. In addition, the participants would feel appreciated if they were told that they had a native-like accent, adding that it is not a big problem for them to have an accent. This contradict may verify the identity crisis of the non-native instructors, and this might be solved through in-depth training during the pre-service and in-service teacher education process.References
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