Identity construction of YouTube English teachers

Research output: Conference PapersRGC 32 - Refereed conference paper (without host publication)peer-review

Abstract

YouTube, a popular video-hosting site, is increasingly being used as a platform for learning. Previous research on the use of YouTube for hosting educational content has been focusing on the multimodal design of educational videos (Bateman & Schmidt-Borcherding, 2018), and how evidence of learning is shown (Benson, 2015). Research on the bottom-up identity construction process of online teachers has been scarce. This paper reports on a qualitative study on the identity construction of a YouTube English teacher. Through conducting online observation of the teaching channel and a semi-structured interview with the YouTube teacher, this study explores how the teacher performs her ‘repertoires of identities through linguistic-semiotic resources’ (Spotti & Blommaert, 2017, p. 171). While identity construction of classroom teachers has been widely researched in face-to-face contexts, it has not been adequately explored in social media platforms in which teaching is mediated by digital technology. Furthermore, YouTube teachers’ identity performance in a global context also
warrants more attention from applied linguists. This study suggests that the widening of participation in English language teaching in social media platforms such as YouTube requires complex identity and semiotic work which goes beyond academic qualifications and teaching experiences, and thus calls for more recognition of the complex identity work performed by online teachers which demonstrates their expertise and legitimacy in online English language teaching.
Original languageEnglish
Pages178
Publication statusPublished - Dec 2022
EventInternational Congress on English Language Education and Applied Linguistics (ICELEAL 2022) - Virtual, Hong Kong, China
Duration: 6 Dec 20229 Dec 2022
https://www.eduhk.hk/lml/iceleal2022/
https://www.eduhk.hk/lml/iceleal2022/schedule.php

Conference

ConferenceInternational Congress on English Language Education and Applied Linguistics (ICELEAL 2022)
Abbreviated titleICELEAL2022
PlaceHong Kong, China
Period6/12/229/12/22
Internet address

Bibliographical note

Research Unit(s) information for this publication is provided by the author(s) concerned.

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