Addressing Cultural Identity through Negotiation: Analysis of Student-teacher-authored Narratives

Teachersí cultural identity is among the forepart issues within the realm of teacher education studies. The research about teachersí identity has been done using teacherauthored narratives. That said, the purpose of this study was to investigate the role of negotiation in the student-teachersí cultural identity formation. To that end, three studentteachers (two males and one female student-teachers), majoring in English language teaching participated in this study. During four months, the student-teachers participated in a negotiation program on cultural identity. They were sent some academic papers to study, then, they participated in discussions about cultural variations and the ways to address them in classrooms. The student-teachers where asked to write their narratives. Then the narratives where analyzed based on the semantic expressions. The qualitative analysis of the student-teachersí narratives showed that their cultural identity changed during the negotiation period. By analyzing the student teacher-authored narratives, it appeared that they addressed cultural variations in different ways includingusing cultural varieties in teaching, identifying the gaps between cultural contexts, reconceptualization of cultural concepts, cultural transformation, new modes of using culture, internalization of cultural issues, and cultural awareness, each of which is discussed in the current study. It can be concluded from the obtained information that cultural identity is a dynamic one and open to change. The research bears some implications for teacher education policy makers to introduce sustainable teacher education program in general, and sustainable second language teacher education program in particular.