Metaphors of Career Change: EAP Teachers’ Professional Identity Formation as Boundary Workers

Abstract

This paper is the preliminary study of a larger project examining English for Academic Purposes (EAP) teachers' professional identity formation during career transition from being a general English (GE) teacher to an EAP teacher. The project is situated in the sociocultural context of recent English education curriculum reform in tertiary institutions in mainland China. The reform has attracted an increasing number of GE teachers transferring to EAP teaching. However, little research has been done to examine how the teachers are making sense of their new professional identities as EAP teaching professionals. This paper examines how four Chinese EAP teachers made sense of their career transition through the metaphors they shared in an online professional community (Craig, 2017). Drawing on the concepts of boundaries (Akkerman & Bakker, 2011) and teacher identities (Connelly & Clandinin, 1999), we will sharehow EAP teachers negotiate their identities as boundary workers, engaging in multiple boundaries during career transition. Findings show engaging in multiple boundaries can have risks and learning potentials. Implications for EAP teachers’ professional development will be discussed.