Abstract
While English for Academic Purposes (EAP) has developed theoretically and empirically over the past decades, there are few documented studies on EAP practitioners’ identities. Our study examined 12 Iranian EAP practitioners’ role identities (as one type of identity) in light of the conceptualization of English for specific purposes (ESP) practitioner roles. Adopting a qualitative approach, the study revealed the role of various contextual factors shaping the practitioners’ role identities as being EAP practitioner agents of transformative education, being a course designer and the quest for needs analysis, being a materials provider and managing the oscillations, being a collaborator and the lack of collegiate connection, being a researcher and dispositional variations, and finally being an evaluator and dynamic assessors. The study provides implications regarding how policy and planning shape practitioners’ role identities and suggests future lines of inquiry to build the associated scholarship.
Interview questions
Could you please tell me about your role as an EAP teacher? How do you see it? How do you think about yourself?
How do you see your role as a designer of courses? How does it influence your perceptions about yourself?
How do you define your role in relation to materials? What materials do you use? How does it influence your perceptions about yourself?
How do you collaborate with other teachers? How does it influence your perceptions about yourself? Do you face any challenges?
Do you engage in research? If no, why? If yes, why and how does it influence your perceptions about yourself? What do you seek in such research?
How do you see your role as an assessor? How do you assess the students? What do you do and how does it influence your perceptions about yourself?
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