Language Teacher Identity, World Englishes, and ELF: A Duoethnography Between a “Native Speaker” Teacher and a “Non-Native Speaker” Teacher

Abstract

ABSTRACT As English has developed into a global language, comprehensive suggestions have been made for the integration of World Englishes (WE) and English as a Lingua Franca (ELF) into language education. However, such suggestions have often encountered considerable resistance, in part due to the complexities in the formation of language teacher identity. In this paper, the authors employ a duoethnographic research method to explore how their encounters with WE and ELF have impacted their identities as a “native speaker” and a “non-native speaker” teacher of English. Through comparisons between their life histories, they demonstrate how their experience with WE and ELF have led to feelings of newfound legitimacy, and lingering incompleteness. The paper argues in order for the promotion of WE/ELF to be successful, more focus needs to be paid to the identity work required of teachers so that they can successfully and sensitively form a new conception of language teaching.