The interplay between identity and emotion of young LOTE (languages other than English) teachers in their early careers: A sociocultural theory perspective

YANHUA HE; LILI QIN; HAORAN CHEN

doi:10.30827/portalin.vi2023c.29655

Authors

YANHUA HE SHANGHAI INTERNATIONAL STUDIES UNIVERSITY, CHINA
LILI QIN GUANGDONG UNIVERSITY OF FOREIGN STUDIES, CHINA (Corresponding author)
HAORAN CHEN SOUTH CHINA BUSINESS COLLEGE OF GUANGDONG UNIVERSITY OF FOREIGN STUDIES, CHINA

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.30827/portalin.vi2023c.29655

Keywords:

LOTE (languages other than English), young teachers, identity, emotion, interrelationship

Abstract

There is conflicting evidence regarding the relationship between teachers’ identities and emotions. The inconsistency may be explained by a one-way causal relationship or two-way support. However, from a sociocultural perspective, the two might dialectically influence each other. Furthermore, most studies on teacher identities have focused solely on teaching and research identities without considering their social service roles as well. Further, little is known about LOTE (Languages Other than English) teachers in higher education, and even less is known about younger novice teachers. To fill these gaps, this study included a survey of 843 young LOTE teachers and in-depth interviews with three respondents at universities to gain a deeper understanding of their identities and emotions. As a result, the interaction between the two variables in the teaching dimension was observed to have a more robust relationship. Teachers’ identities and emotions were inextricably linked in either a positive or negative manner. Specifically, a higher sense of identity and positive emotion correlated closely, whereas a lower sense of identity and negative emotion walked together. As a result of the weak sense of research identity, this relationship was evident in teaching and social service, de-emphasizing research. The present study provides additional evidence with respect to the dialectical relationship between teacher identity and teacher emotion.

FUNDING INFORMATION. The project has been primarily supported by Research Fund for Yunshan Outstanding Scholar, Guangdong University of Foreign Studies (No. 2023RC031), the MOE Project at Center for Linguistics and Applied Linguistics, Guangdong University of Foreign Studies, Shanghai International Studies University Peak Discipline (Linguistics) Construction Project (N0. 41004525/001), and Shanghai International Studies University Mentor Academic Leadership Program (N0. 2022113041).

The paper has also been supported by: An Empirical Study on the Impact of Public Sponsored Study Abroad on the Professional Development of University Teachers-Taking Guangdong as an Example (N0: GD22CJY10).

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Author Biographies

YANHUA HE, SHANGHAI INTERNATIONAL STUDIES UNIVERSITY, CHINA

Doctor student in the School of English Studies

LILI QIN, GUANGDONG UNIVERSITY OF FOREIGN STUDIES, CHINA (Corresponding author)

CORRESPONDING AUTHOR

Center for Linguistics and Applied Linguistics, School of English Education, Guangdong University of Foreign Studies, Guangzhou, People’s Republic of China.

HAORAN CHEN, SOUTH CHINA BUSINESS COLLEGE OF GUANGDONG UNIVERSITY OF FOREIGN STUDIES, CHINA

Department of College English Teaching, South China Business School, Guangdong University of Foreign Studies, Guangzhou, People’s Republic of China.

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