Examining the early teacher identity of pre-service English language teachers

Identifying the pre-professional teacher identities of education faculty students is essential for fostering higher education programs. Therefore, this mixed-method study examines the early teacher identity levels of pre-service English teachers. Additionally, the relationship between early teacher identity perceptions and demographic characteristics, namely, gender and year of study, is investigated. To obtain quantitative data, 206 pre-service English teachers were reached at a public university in Türkiye. Semi-structured interviews were also conducted with 15 pre-service teachers. The quantitative data were gathered through the personal information form designed by the researcher and the Early Teacher Identity Measure scale developed by Friesen and Besley (2013) and adapted into Turkish by Arpacı and Bardakçı (2015). The findings of the study indicated that the early teacher identity level of English teacher candidates was high. It was found that gender has shown no significant effect on early teacher identity. However, it was revealed that early teacher identity levels are higher among junior and senior students compared to sophomore and freshman students. The findings revealed that experience and initial teacher training play a significant role in shaping early teacher identity. Overall, this study emphasizes the importance of early exposure to practical teaching experiences and methodology courses for supporting early teacher identity development within teacher education programs.