CATESOL24

I have done my PhD in English Language Teaching in Tehran, Iran. My research focused on the critical analysis of what brings up identity re/constructions, specifically identity conflicts for EFL teachers and instructors in the education system of Iran. I looked into manifold factors, including the complexity of the centralized system of the EFL education context in Iran. My research proved a broad and unavoidable binding between educational policy and what leads to conflicts, burnouts, resistance, and reactions on the part of teachers in practice level which reaffirmed that teacher identity and practice is motivated by political, social, economic, and educational factors and proved that teachers as transformative intellectuals are not neutral agents and actively respond to educational policies.
After I moved to the US, I pursued my profession as an ESL instructor at California College of Communication. Through this unique experience, I realized that ESL students not only need the knowledge but also require the development of the affirming dispositions about language, culture, and diversity. As a multilingual ESL instructor, I am interested in looking into how this linguistically and culturally diverse context affects bilingual/multilingual ESL teachers and ESL students' cross-cultural understanding and identity construction.