1. The Professional Identity of Indonesian English Teachers
Ardian Wahyu Setiawan
Dr. Ian Green, Dr. Linda Westphalen & Dr. Cally Guerin

2. English and Its Speakers
• Used in 75 territories in the world (Crystal, 2003)
• A lingua franca → about 1.5 billion speakers
± 375 million native speakers
• Nonnative-native speakers ratio → 4:1 (Crystal, 2003)
• 80% of English teachers in the world: nonnative speakers
(Braine, 1999; Canagarajah, 2005; Graddol, 2006)

3. Discrimination against Nonnative English Teachers
The majority of English teachers → Nonnative speakers
(Braine, 1999; Canagarajah, 2005; Graddol, 2006)
THEY ARE DISCRIMINATED AGAINST
Nonnative English teachers → treated unequally
(Amin, 1997; Braine, 1999; Thomas, 1999; Kamhi-Stein, 2000; Mahboob, 2004; Clark & Paran, 2007)
Less preferred
(Braine, 1999; Thomas, 1999; Kamhi- Stein, 2000; Mahboob, 2004)
The discrimination → racial
(Amin, 2004; Lee, 2007)

4. Native speakers will be given preference

5. It is racial
Blonde hair
Blue or green eyes?

6. What causes?
DISCRIMINATION
Native English teachers → Ideal teachers
Nonnative English teachers → less competent teachers
(Kamhi-Stein, 2000; Lee, 2000; McKay, 2002)

7. Unequal Views → Why?
• The Legacy of Colonialism
Colonial discourse → operates → today
Affects linguists, applied linguists, and teachers
(Pennycook, 1994)
English Language Teaching → Images of the speakers
• Communicative Language Teaching (CLT)
too much emphasis on native competence as its goal (Preston,1989; Berns, 1990)

8. Discrimination in Indonesia
IT IS PREVALENT

9. Discrimination in Indonesia
NOT Indonesian?

10. Discrimination in Indonesia
National school?

11. The Professional Identity of Indonesian English Teachers
The discrimination → Nonnative English teachers’ identity
Identity is socially constructed and contextually related to
sociocultural discourse
(Duff & Uchida, 1997; Norton, 1997; Varghese, Morgan, Johnston, & Johnson; 2005)
Students’ perceptions
H
Parents’ perceptions
O Other subject teachers’ perceptions
W Indonesian English teachers’ self-perceptions

12. Research on Teacher Identity
100 Social Science Citation
90 Index – SSCI Journal
80
70
HOWEVER
60 The concept of identity
50
40
30
20
10
not clearly defined
(Beijaard, Meijer, & Verloop, 2004;
Beauchamp & Thomas, 2009)
0
1988 1990 1992 1994 1996 1998 2000 2002 2004 2006 2008

13. Approach
EDUCATION
Identity → not clearly defined
Education (Beijaard, Meijer, & Verloop, 2004; Beauchamp &
Thomas, 2009)
SOCIAL PSYCHOLOGY
Self-concept
WHO ARE YOU? WHO AM I?
(Vignoles, Schwartz, & Luyckx, 2011)
IDENTITY
Criticized → ahistorical
(Hook, 2005; Okazaki, David, & Abelmann, 2008)
Social
Postcolonial
Psychology
POSTCOLONIAL THEORY
History, Space, Discourse

14. Context
• Many educational institutions
• Access to data
MALANG, INDONESIA

15. Theoretical Frameworks
• POSTCOLONIAL THEORY
How colonial discourse operates; how stereotype works
• SOCIAL IDENTITY THEORY
How individuals attempt to maintain their identity
positively valued / perceived
• DIALOGICAL SELF THEORY
Individuals have multiple voices; the others are intrinsic
part of the self

16. POSTCOLONIAL THEORY
The Other Questions
Homi Bhabha
Fixity
Cultural – Historical – Racial
COLONIAL DISCOURSE
STEREOTYPES
Fixed stereotypes of
nonnative English teachers
Stereotype works by using cultural – historical
racial differences

17. SOCIAL IDENTITY THEORY
INGROUP OUTGROUP
Social Social Psychological
Social Identity
Categorization Comparison Distinctiveness
Useful concepts: prototypes, psychological distinctiveness
What are the prototypes used? How do the teachers perceive their identity?

18. SOCIAL IDENTITY THEORY
An example:
Black is beautiful movement

19. SOCIAL IDENTITY THEORY
INGROUP OUTGROUP
Focus on intergroup behaviour
Individual level?

20. DIALOGICAL SELF THEORY
The Theatre of Metaphor
The Multiplicity of the Self The Significant Others
Useful concepts: the multiplicity of the self, the significant others

21. Methodology
Qualitative → Perceptions / Voices
An exploratory case study → How and Why
12 students, 5 parents, 5 other subject teachers and 5
English teachers
Semi-Structured Interviews
(in English and Indonesian)
and
Focus Group Discussions
(students)

22. Significance
Personal Significance
• Research problem → Indonesia
• Professional background → An Indonesian English teacher
Practical Significance
• An in-depth understanding → Professional identity
• The result → useful for teacher training institutions
• Inform the policies → related to Indonesian English teachers
Research Significance
• Dealing with a problematic issue faced by nonnative English teachers
• Addressing the gap → EFL context
• Multi dimensional study → Involving multi-groups of participants

23. THANK YOU