Professional Identity Construction in Becoming an NNEST

This study investigated the professional identity construction of NNESTs (Non-native English-speaking teachers) in Taiwan. The research paradigm was rooted in poststructuralism, which emphasizes subjectivity and exhibits the multiple, unstable, and non-linear properties of identity inquiry. Participants comprised two male and two female in-service English teachers from public and private senior high schools, whose teaching experience ranged from 10 to 15 years. The findings were as follows: in constructing their professional identity, NNESTs resorted to the integration of multiple selves, interpretation and reinterpretation, social negotiation, and agency operation. Moreover, various factors were found to influence the development of NNESTs’ professional identity. The internal factors were personal belief, prior experience, emotion and disposition, teaching efficacy, instrumental goal, non-native status, and motivation, whereas the external factors were student attitude, professional community, subject attributes, educational policies, and perceived expectation. The study not only illuminates NNESTs’ professional identity development but also contributes with theoretical and pedagogical implications.