Becoming a language teacher: Constraints and negotiation in the emergence of new identities

Abstract

Over the past three decades, identity has become a key construct in applied linguistics and there has been a great deal of research focussing on language learner identities. Meanwhile, less research has been devoted to language teacher identities, although there has been an increase in recent years. This paper makes a modest contribution to this growing literature. It examines how two Spanish nationals developed Spanish language teacher identities while attending a Postgraduate Certificate of Education (PGCE) course at a London university.