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Negotiating teacher identity: Experiences of Black teachers of English in Korean ELT

How race and English language teacher identity intersect in the Expanding Circle

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  15 January 2020

Hohsung Choe  and
Youngjoo Seo
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Extract

Most recent research on teacher identity in the TESOL field has focused on how non-native English-speaking teachers (non-NESTs) view and position themselves vis-à-vis native English-speaking teachers (NESTs), and which factors influence their construction of their professional identities. However, the perceived native speaker/non-native speaker (NS–NNS) dichotomy greatly oversimplifies a complicated phenomenon by representing it as solely linguistic and disregarding sociocultural and political issues. Beyond the question of nativeness versus non-nativeness, race, ethnicity, nationality, and cultural identity have played key roles in how teachers position themselves within English language teaching (ELT). These other factors may be critical in how others judge the capability of a teacher of English and authenticity of his/her English.

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Research Article
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English Today , Volume 37 , Issue 3 , September 2021 , pp. 148 - 155
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Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2020

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