Competences of Language Teacher Identity

When favouring conditions prevail, it is more likely for teachers to achieve a good match between their teaching ideals and their classroom identity and so easier for them to maintain high motivation in their work.

• language-related identity

• context-related identity

• disciplinary identity

• self-knowledge and awareness

• student-related identity

Different contexts for teaching create different potentials for learning that the teacher must come to understand and provide different kinds of constraints and opportunities for teachers' practice.

• language-related identity

• context-related identity

• disciplinary identity

• self-knowledge and awareness

• student-related identity

Identity is underpinned by specific knowledge of the content of the field gained not only through experience teaching but also through formal education. Formal education connected to language teaching builds not only relevant expertise, but also creates valuable disciplinary connections, affiliations, and qualifications.

• language-related identity

• context-related identity

• disciplinary identity

• self-knowledge and awareness

• student-related identity

A person's identity as a language teacher relates to the person's language background and language proficiency. Teaching language requires not only specific knowledge about the language being taught but also specific skills for communicating effectively with students who have limited proficiency in that language.

• language-related identity

• context-related identity

• disciplinary identity

• self-knowledge and awareness

• student-related identity

The personal understanding of teachers is based on their differing background characteristics and experiences, the specific people they interact with and the specific interactions they have with them, the differing ways they perceive themselves and others, their values and beliefs, and the specific ways they interpret experience.

• practiced and responsive teaching skills (knowledge into practice)

• theorizing from practice (practice into knowledge)

• membership in communities of practice and profession.

It is being aware of one's strengths and weaknesses and how to optimize teaching on the basis of this awareness. Thus, one's identity as a language teacher should involve developing experience and a image of oneself that is built on self-awareness.

• language-related identity

• context-related identity

• disciplinary identity

• self-knowledge and awareness

• student-related identity

When disfavouring setting conditions prevail, teachers' goals and ideas may become increasingly detached from their actual classroom behavior, as they perceive there is no incentive for doing so.

• language-related identity

• context-related identity

• disciplinary identity

• self-knowledge and awareness

• student-related identity

The personal working principles which reflect teachers' individual philosophies of teaching, developed from their experience of teaching and learning, their teacher education experiences, and from their own personal beliefs and value systems.

• practiced and responsive teaching skills (knowledge into practice)

• theorizing from practice (practice into knowledge)

• membership in communities of practice and profession.

Notive teachers usually move from a focus on lesson material and procedures to a focus on their students and interaction in the classroom. Thus, knowledge is complemented by knowledge of students, both individuals and learner groups, as a central element of teaching competence.

• language-related identity

• context-related identity

• disciplinary identity

• self-knowledge and awareness

• student-related identity

English language teaching is a profession, which means that it is seen as a career in a field of educational specialization, it requires a specialized knowledge base obtained through both academic study and practical experience, and it is a field of work where membership is based on entry requirements and standards.

• practiced and responsive teaching skills (knowledge into practice)

• theorizing from practice (practice into knowledge)

• membership in communities of practice and profession.