Personal and Professional Identities of Three Expatriate, Pakistani, Muslim, Female Teachers of English: The Narratives Thus

Abstract

This research enquiry explores the life-history narratives of three Pakistani female expatriate tertiary-level English language teachers at Gulf Coeducational University (GCU). The study was conducted in order to investigate the participants’ journeys as learners and how they perceive themselves as teachers. The historical, educational, and linguistic background of Pakistan is provided along with an overview of GCU, where all the participants presently teach. Harré’s conception of personhood (1983) is related to the identity formation of the participants. Bourdieu’s theory of cultural capital in society (1986, 2001), applied to the hierarchical status of languages in Pakistan (Rahman, 2004a; Mansoor, 2004), serves as a theoretical framework. A discussion of what Pakistani identity may entail, with emphasis on the significance of language on cultural identity, is given. Narrative research methodology is utilised (Clandinin and Connelly, 1996, 2000), to conduct three in-depth semi-structured interviews with the participants. Emerging themes are explored and research findings discussed with reference to relevant literature. The significance of their cultural capital, experiences of teacher-centred approaches in Pakistan and abroad, and the gender-based constraints the participants experienced during their educational trajectories are analysed. The implications of the study: for professional development, teacher training programmes and for the internationalisation of education can be explored in further research.Key words

Date of Award	25 Mar 2016
Original language	English
Awarding Institution	University of Bath
Supervisor	David Skidmore (Supervisor) & Rita Chawla-Duggan (Supervisor)