A narrative inquiry into the shifting identities of trade teachers in using English medium instruction in a content and language integrated learning vocational programme

Abstract

English as the Medium of Instruction (EMI) has been highly valued in Hong Kong, due to its previous British colonial rule. Internationally, it is the dominant language being used as the medium of instruction (MOI) in Content and Language Integrated Learning (CLIL). CLIL in English is also spreading across Hong Kong mainstream schools and tertiary education, including vocational colleges. Trade teachers who normally adopt Chinese as the MOI in the vocational colleges will need to take on a new linguistic identity and join a new CLIL community of practice. The shift in identity during this transition process can be unsettling and challenging to the trade teachers. There is little known about the transition from mother tongue teaching to CLIL in English as a second language, particularly in a vocational education context in Hong Kong. A deep and sensitive examination into the trade teachers’ experiences and their voices is deemed necessary. My study therefore aims to explore the experiences of four trade teachers to understand how their lived experiences interplay with contextual complexities and tensions, which trigger their identity shifts in the complex process of becoming CLIL teachers. A narrative inquiry approach is used as the research methodology to afford access to the four trade teachers’ voices. In the process of inquiry, their stories were co-constructed through face-to-face conversations, reflective journals, observational field notes from classroom teaching, and participants’ interactions with significant members such as students, peers, supervisors, other teachers, the English native speaking trainer and the researcher, in multiple communities over a period of nine months. Their experiences were studied by using Wenger’s (1998) theory of Communities of Practice (COP) as a theoretical framework to untangle the interconnectedness between identity and learning. Analysis illustrates that participants’ identities were shaped by unfavorable past learning experiences, which largely influenced their attitudes towards CLIL and EMI teaching. Support and challenges from significant members of multiple communities, and conflicts with institutional narratives were key to their struggles, which induced their identity shifts to cope with the power disparities experienced. Through Wenger’s idea of ‘learning as becoming’, knowledge and experience gained from the training eventually formed an evolving self of each participant. The trade teachers acquired evolved identities as they refashioned their points of views towards CLIL teaching and English learning. The stories shed light on the theoretical significance of COP theory in understanding identity shifts, and practical significance which questions the applicability of CLIL in a trade-specific context. The study also has implications for institutional MOI policy and understanding teachers’ MOI training. What touched me most, with my triple roles as researcher, coordinator and former head of English department, is the powerful role that narrative inquiry played in building relationship with my participants. Together we overcame tensions and developed mutual trust in bringing out the ‘beauty” of an evolving self, not only that of the participants, but also of myself as researcher.