Speaker
Description
Adopting positioning theory, this study explores how novice English language teachers in public secondary schools in Hanoi construct their teacher identities and position their ‘disruptive’ students. Based on in-depth interviews with 9 novice teachers, data were analyzed using Critical Discourse Analysis to examine how teachers positioned themselves and the students, as well as how their emotional labor was translated as a result. Findings reveal that participants positioned disruptive students as requiring specialized intervention, victims of rigid evaluation systems and problematic home environment. In contrast, teachers positioned themselves as morally responsible actors—such as saviors, carers, or maternal figures – beyond professional boundaries. Emotional labour emerged as a discursively produced consequence of self-questioned professional competence, unreciprocated care, curricular pressures, guilt toward other students, fear of emotional harm, and internalized expectations to perform affective labour. The study contributes to understandings of how novice teachers’ identities are shaped in challenging classroom contexts.
Biography
The author is currently a lecturer at University of Languages and International Studies. She has conducted studies on various subjects, such as computerized pronunciation training, teaching methodology and identity development. Her research interests include teacher identity, teaching methodology, computer-assisted language learning, and materials development.
