Re-writing the script: How immigrant teachers (re)construct identities in a Canadian private language school setting

Each year increasing numbers of international students come to Canada in order to learn the English language and the culture of the target language. Since Canada's population is multicultural and multilingual, students are frequently taught by teachers who are immigrants and have themselves learned English as a second language. Internalizing the prevailing discourse of the ESL educational industry, immigrant teachers question whether or not non-native speakers are qualified to teach English, and introduce students to Canadian culture. Socio-cultural theories of education, language and identity guide analysis and interpretation of the stories of seven immigrant teachers interviewed in this study. Their narratives illustrate the ways these individuals have actively responded to the discourses of business and colonialism, and how they (re)construct and make meaning of their identities in the context of a private postsecondary private language school in Vancouver.