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Part of
Language Teacher Development in Digital Contexts
Edited by Hayriye Kayi-Aydar and Jonathon Reinhardt
[Language Learning & Language Teaching 57] 2022
► pp. 29–48

Chapter 2
“Sitting in the back of the class”

Positional identities in an online MA TESOL program

This study examines how teacher candidates’ positions in a fully online MA TESOL program accumulate into more stable positional identities over the span of a 7.5-week course. Overreliance on asynchronous, text-based posts mired teacher candidates in static positions that hindered their learning. One participant, positioned as a good teacher, did not receive the constructive criticism he wanted, while the other participant, positioned as inexperienced and deficient, resorted to participatory patterns that isolated her from the group. These findings illustrate the effects that course design may have on identity construction in online settings in which outside peer-to-peer interaction may be limited.

Keywords: Online MA TESOL programs, positional identities, identity construction
Article outline
  • Theoretical framework
  • Methods
    • Participants and context
    • Data collection
    • Data analysis
  • Findings
    • Pre-positioning
    • Moment-to-moment practices
    • Characterizations of practice
    • Patterns of participation
    • Positional identities
  • Discussion
  • References
Published online: 20 January 2022
DOI logo
https://doi.org/10.1075/lllt.57.02ste
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