Speakers
Description
Abstract
Overseas postgraduate study has become an important pathway for language teachers’ professional development. While previous studies have largely examined how returnee teachers negotiate their identities and adapt their pedagogical practices, less attention has been paid to how they understand and interpret themselves as professionals in the post-return phase. Addressing this gap, this study explores the professional self-understandings of Vietnamese EFL returnee lecturers through Kelchtermans’ (2009) framework of professional self, comprising five dimensions: self-image, self-esteem, job motivation, task perception, and future perspective. Adopting a qualitative multiple-case study design, the study draws on semi-structured interviews with four Vietnamese university EFL lecturers who completed MA TESOL programs in the United Kingdom and subsequently returned to higher education institutions in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam. Data were analyzed thematically using Kelchtermans’ framework as an analytical lens. Findings suggest that participants developed positive professional self-images as competent English users, university lecturers, and emerging academics. Overseas study appeared to strengthen their self-esteem through enhanced linguistic confidence, pedagogical expertise, and research-related knowledge. Their job motivation was shaped by commitments to student learning, professional growth, and intellectual engagement, while task perceptions extended beyond classroom teaching to include mentoring, curriculum development, and scholarly activities. Future perspectives were characterized by aspirations for doctoral study, greater research engagement, and broader contributions to higher education. The study contributes to the literature on returnee teachers by demonstrating the value of examining professional identity through teachers’ professional self-understandings. Implications for teacher education, institutional support, and the professional development of returnee lecturers are discussed.
Keywords: professional identity, professional self, EFL returnee lecturers
Biography
Pham Van Khanh is an EFL lecturer working at the undergraduate level in Vietnam. He is currently affiliated with the Faculty of Foreign Languages at Ho Chi Minh City University of Technology and Engineering. He holds an MA in TESOL from the University of Southern Queensland. His research interests include language teacher identity, teacher agency, and professional development in English language teaching and teacher education contexts.
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