Becoming and being a teacher through emotion discourse: a case study of a novice EMI teacher

Abstract

While the research field of English-as-Medium-of-Instruction (EMI) in China has experienced growth in recent years, covering topics ranging from top-down policies to classroom implementations and teachers’ needs, there has been limited attention given to the lived emotional experiences of EMI teachers and how such experiences influence their teaching practices and identity construction. This study adopts a case study design to investigate the teacher identity of a novice lecturer of EMI in a Chinese higher education institute, examining the role of emotions in shaping EMI teacher identity. Multiple data sources, including interviews, reflective journals, and digital conversations and posts, were collected from September 2021 to June 2022. Data analysis was conducted both inductively and deductively. The analysis reveals that, firstly, emotion discourses give teachers a chance to be aware of their identity construction, and secondly, emotions are not solely individual encounters but are intertwined with social and cultural contexts. This study encourages EMI teachers to embrace their lived emotional responses and contributes to a deeper understanding of the complexities involved in the development of teacher identities in EMI contexts. Furthermore, this study provides important implications for EMI policymaking and teacher training programmes.