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Social Identity and Language Learning/Teaching Trajectories: Egyptian English Teachers’ Reflections on Being Taught by Native English- Speaking Instructors
This study explores how teacher social identity is shaped by Egyptian English teachers’ past learning experiences, particularly in relation to native and non-native English-speaking teachers. It seeks to understand how these experiences influence teachers’ perceptions of themselves within English-sp...
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| Format: | Thesis |
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AUC Knowledge Fountain
2026
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| Summary: | This study explores how teacher social identity is shaped by Egyptian English teachers’ past learning experiences, particularly in relation to native and non-native English-speaking teachers. It seeks to understand how these experiences influence teachers’ perceptions of themselves within English-speaking contexts and how they make sense of dominant language ideologies surrounding nativeness. The study is guided by the following research questions: how participants perceive their sense of social belonging within English-speaking contexts; how ‘native’ and ‘non-native’ English teachers understand and interpret nativeness; and how past educational and social experiences shape teachers’ sense of ownership and legitimacy. Situated within the framework of Social Identity Theory, this study adopts a qualitative narrative approach, in which data was collected through semi-structured interviews guided by reflective interview questions as well as post-interview reflection papers from five Egyptian English teachers working within the same university context. The findings suggest that social belonging is not a fixed state, but one that is continuously shaped by experience, relationships, as well as overarching language ideologies. While participants often began with the assumption that native speakers held greater authority or legitimacy, most came to question and, in most cases, resist this belief over time. A key finding is the presence of a cycle of ideological reproduction, in which dominant assumptions about nativeness are both challenged and unintentionally reinforced. The study also highlights that ownership of the English language and perceived legitimacy do not necessarily develop in tandem as past research suggests, but may instead diverge in certain ways.
The findings suggest that participants’ early experiences with social belonging played an important role in shaping their later perceptions of legitimacy, nativeness, and ownership. Participants who described more stable senses of belonging in earlier educational and social contexts appeared less impacted by native-speaker ideology later on, while those with more unstable experiences often demonstrated stronger tensions in negotiating legitimacy and confidence. Although most participants eventually developed more critical perspectives toward native-speaker norms, the findings also revealed a recurring cycle in which such ideologies were simultaneously resisted and unintentionally reproduced. The study further highlights that ownership of English and perceptions of legitimacy do not necessarily develop in tandem, complicating assumptions in previous research. Overall, the study demonstrates how teacher social identity is continuously negotiated through the interaction of personal experience, professional development, and broader social ideologies surrounding English within the Egyptian context. |
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