Mexican English Teachers' Identity Negotiations: A Narrative Study

This study examines how five Mexican EFL teachers negotiated their professional identities while interacting with ideologies implicit in social practices, power relations, and discourse. I approached teachers� identities using a hybrid narrative approach that combined content and discourse analysis of the participants� life histories, small storytelling, and classroom practices. Diverse public documents were analyzed to identify socially constructed views about English teachers. The analysis showed a tendency in the public opinion to construct the failure of most Mexicans to acquire English as the result of poor teaching and not as the consequence of complex socioeconomic and political factors. These perceptions were also found in the teachers� narratives of their past, present, and projected professional development. My analysis revealed that, as part of the process of identity negotiation, the teachers struggled with the native speaker fallacy since their initial teacher education. These struggles also continued, as the teachers negotiated their legitimacy as EFL teachers at the workplace. While some of the participants problematized the assumption that the best type of English teacher should be a native speaker, they still considered the proficiency features of these speakers as their standard to measure their own L2 proficiency. The analysis also showed that the teachers tended to present their reality through binary oppositions that separated them from their colleagues, perceiving their peers as being at the negative end of their dichotomous representations. Finally, the participants� projections of their professional development showed a tendency to see their future as uncertain which may be connected to the increasingly uncertain situation of Mexican teachers� working conditions. These findings have three implications. First, the participants� struggles to negotiate their identities as legitimate teachers suggest that in-service EFL teachers, in Mexico and other similar contexts, may be in need of professional development programs to help them identify and constructively contest ideologies at the workplace. Second, teacher education programs may need to focus on raising student-teachers� awareness about the value of their multicompetent linguistic knowledge. Finally, teachers� tendency to define their identity in antagonistic ways should be addressed to neutralize possible negative effects on teachers� collaborative work.Englis

University academic writing for international students: A usage-based approach

This resource is designed specifically to meet the academic writing needs of international students studying at universities in the United States. The materials in the book can be covered within a 14-week semester, but each chapter or section may also be used independently.Based on a series of needs analysis projects, this resource provides an overview of major rhetorical patterns of writing that are commonly used in university settings in the United States. These commonly required genres include descriptive and evaluative summaries, short essays, comparison and contrast assignments, literature reviews, descriptive reports, and proposals. The resource includes chapters that address the structure and purpose of these more common genres, including an awareness of the ways that the target audience and situation should shape the writing of each

Ser o no ser como un hablante nativo del inglés: Creencias ambivalentes e ideología en el imaginario de los profesores de inglés en Brasil y México

Abstract: The study of nonnative English speaking teachers’ beliefs is important due to the connection between such beliefs and pedagogical practice. While there have been several previous studies investigating language teachers’ beliefs, few have focused on Latin-American teachers of English. This article outlines two qualitative studies conducted in Mexico and Brazil with experienced teachers. We critically analyze teachers’ beliefs regarding their professional status in relation to (idealized) native speakers of English. Findings from both studies point to the potential influence of pervasive ideologies surrounding English native speaker superiority. Implications of these beliefs on teachers’ employment conditions and pedagogical practices are discussed followed by brief recommendations for critical language teacher education policy and practice aimed at challenging unequal relations of power in English language teaching across Latin America.Resumen: El estudio de las creencias de los profesores “no-nativos” de inglés es importante por su relación con la práctica docente. El tema ha sido abordado anteriormente, pero existen pocos estudios en el contexto latinoamericano. Este artículo reporta dos estudios conducidos en México y Brasil con profesores experimentados. Se analizan críticamente las creencias sobre la posición profesional del docente con respecto a la figura idealizada del hablante nativo. Los resultados indican la influencia potencial de ideologías generalizadas que están relacionadas con la falacia sobre la superioridad del hablante nativo. Se discuten implicaciones que estas creencias pueden tener en la práctica y situación laboral del docente. Se consideran recomendaciones para fomentar políticas de formación y una práctica docente más críticas y orientadas a desafiar las inequidades entre los profesores de inglés en Latinoamérica