The impact of role modeling on the professional identity of pre-service teachers

Research shows that mentoring EFL pre-service teachers during the practicum element of teacher-training courses allow them to get experience and to develop, improve, and put into practice their teaching skills. This professional practice can impact the development of a positive or negative professional identity in teachers. Current literature, however, seems to focus on the shaping of teacher identity and learner identity, but there is little empirical research regarding the development and shaping of the identity of pre-service teachers. Pre-service teachers are the main actors of this practicum stage of teacher-training programs and, therefore, by working in collaboration and being supported by a mentor as a role model, they develop their professional identity. The present qualitative case study sought to explore the shaping and re-shaping of the professional identity of fifteen EFL pre-service teachers of a northern Mexican university and the impact of working with English teacher mentors as role models. Information gathered through the constant comparative method of data from the participants taken from their reflective journals, mentor-observations, and self-observations suggests that although working with a positive role model encourages the development of a stronger teacher identity and an improvement in their teaching practice, working with a bad role model can also have the same results

Les cours ESP sont-ils nécessaires? Les perspectives des étudiants et des diplômés d’une université du nord du Mexique

Nowadays, university students need to be proficient in English if they want to be competitive in the globalized world. Nevertheless, studies show that when finishing university, not all Mexican students achieve this proficiency as they are not always interested in English classes. English for specific purposes (ESP) courses could aid in the motivation of university students, as they are designed according to the learners’ needs of a specific field. The present paper is derived from two bachelor thesis and explores the needs of including ESP courses in four high-demand majors in a Mexican university in the North of Mexico, Medicine, Chemical Engineering, Aerospace Engineering, and Business Administration, based on the perceptions of 77 students and graduates from these programs. Findings suggest that ESP courses are necessary at the university level as they can positively impact the professional development of students, provided that they are well-designed and that they complement the general English courses that students take, through the acquisition of jargon and the development of the students’ communicative competence.Debido a la globalización, los estudiantes universitarios necesitan ser competentes en el idioma inglés para tener oportunidades competitivas. No obstante, estudios muestran que al terminar la Universidad, no todos los estudiantes mexicanos son competentes en el idioma ya que no les dan la importancia necesaria a las clases de inglés. Los cursos de inglés para propósitos específicos (ESP por sus siglas en inglés) podrían ayudar a la motivación de los estudiantes puesto que están diseñados de acuerdo con las necesidades de los estudiantes de un área específica. El presente artículo se deriva de dos tesis de licenciatura y explora la necesidad de la implementación de cursos ESP en cuatro programas académicos de alta demanda en una Universidad Mexicana en el norte de México: Medicina, Ingeniería Química, Ingeniería Aeroespacial, y Administración de Empresas. La información se basa en las percepciones de 77 estudiantes y egresados de estos cuatro programas. Se encontró que los cursos de inglés con fines específicos son necesarios a nivel Universitario ya que pueden impactar positivamente el desarrollo profesional de los estudiantes, siempre y cuando estén bien diseñados y complementen los cursos de inglés general que llevan los alumnos a través de la adquisición de vocabulario técnico y del desarrollo de las competencias comunicativas de los estudiantes

An exploration of the development of student-teacher autonomy and the role of professional identity and mentoring: A case study of ESOL trainees in a northern university in Mexico

Research on teacher autonomy, professional identity and mentoring of student-teachers and novice teachers has influenced the field of teacher education as evidenced by their inclusion in the research agendas of the two most important associations of English teachers around the world: TESOL and IATEFL. Because of this, higher education institutions offering teacher training programmes seem to be concerned with fostering both learner and teacher autonomy and with aiding in the construction of a positive and strong professional identity. To achieve this, universities have added to the curricula of their teaching training programmes the element of mentoring, as it has been demonstrated through the literature that it affects the development of both autonomy and identity in teachers (Galbraith, 2003; McKimm et al, 2003; Harrison et al, 2005; Larose et al, 2005; Walkington, 2005; Mullen, 2012; Izadinia, 2015). However, the focus of research on these areas has been on learners and teachers but there seems to be little empirical evidence regarding student-teachers. Student-teachers hold a strong learner identity at the same time that their identity as teachers starts to develop. The way both identities are shaped and re-shaped could have an impact on their teaching practice and therefore on the development of their autonomy as student-teachers, as teachers and as students. Hence, given the importance of these areas and the apparent gap in researching student-teachers, this study attempts to explore the ways in which student-teacher autonomy may be impacted by the development of their professional identity through the different types of mentoring that might occur during their teaching practicum. Data was gathered from four cohorts of student-teachers during the practicum stage of a B.A. in English programme in the north of Mexico between January 2015 and December 2016. Findings suggest that autonomy may develop in student-teachers during practicum and that it seems to run in parallel with the shaping and re-shaping of their identity. In addition, findings show that mentoring and context seem to play a secondary role in the development of student-teacher autonomy compared to the influence that identity has