The Language Learning Journey of ELT Teachers: A Narrative Approach

Introduction

In recent years, there has been a growing interest in narrative inquiries in the field of language teacher education. It is proposed that narrative inquiry is one of the best ways for learning the individuals’ inner worlds (Lieblich et al., 1998). It not only provides a lens through which the inner world of the individual is explored but also reveals the nature of language learning and teaching process. Basically, narrative inquiry is an umbrella term used for researching stories focusing on life experiences of individuals by considering the relationship between the experiences and context (Clandinin & Connelly, 2000). Through these stories individuals make sense of their experiences by narrating them from their own viewpoints (Barkhuizen et al., 2014). In other words, if teachers tell, retell and interpret their stories, they will sort out the meaning of happenings and events they experience in the actual world (Carter, 1993). As teachers’ experiences about their lives are changing each day, the stories or verbal accounts told by these teachers can give great information about their professional lives, careers and their activities in the world. As it is seen, the importance of narrative inquiry lies in its capacity to facilitate and encourage the study of English language teaching and learning not only in the context of daily life but also in broader educational contexts. From this perspective, examining language teachers' experiences of language learning as learners through narratives is of paramount importance.

Language teachers' personal and professional narratives help them to be more aware in sense-making, problem-solving, and the formation of personal relationships, as well as in the development of their professional identities (Warren, 2020). With the help of narratives, language teachers find a chance to reflect on their desires, fears, expectations, and personal meanings they experience in the context of teaching. Dorfman (1998) states that sharing language learning experiences as narratives greatly contributes to our understanding of language learning and teaching process. In this way, teachers learn how to control future endeavor by making use of past efforts (Downey & Clandinin, 2010). Perhaps this is why, in narrative studies, identity, context, and affect have emerged as the most frequently stated themes (Barkhuizen et al. 2014). The ability to approach this issue via the context of learners' and teachers' own experiences and interpretations of what is contextually important to their learning or teaching is probably the distinguishing feature of narrative inquiry. It is also important to bring the emotional components of language teaching and learning to the foreground, which is related to one of the significant themes in narrative inquiry. The emotional reactions of learners and teachers provide a wealth of information to explore and understand their inner worlds.