The Identities of Language-Trained Content-Based Teachers, an Underexplored Community of Practice

Abstract

Using conceptual tools from Communities of Practice theory (Wenger, 1998), the present study explored the identity construction of language-trained content-based foreign language instructors at an internationally-focused graduate school. Participants engaged in a year-long Professional Learning Community (PLC) whose activities included reading published research on content-based instruction (CBI), observing content-based lessons, and completing a Lesson Study cycle. Data sources for the study included audio recordings of PLC meetings, individual participant interviews with the researcher, and documents (e.g., PowerPoint presentations shared during PLC meetings). It was found that participants saw themselves primarily as language teachers, in line with their primary training; that they appraised the expectation for content expertise in various ways; and that they coped with the expectation for content expertise using specific strategies. The manuscript concludes with suggestions for the professional development of both content-trained and language-trained content-based teachers, as well as directions for future research.