A rapidly increasing online English Language Teaching (ELT) industry attracted different educators and learners worldwide. Among these, Filipina teachers teaching Korean students became popular in this industry. However, these teachers are often faced with issues related to their Filipino English as an Unequal English (Tupas, 2015), and the power dynamics with the students and the platform. This study explores the teacher identities of Filipina online English language teachers, focusing on tensions and negotiations regarding such challenges.
This study utilized narrative inquiry and the findings display how these Filipina teachers reestablish their authenticity and authority within the framework of Bucholtz and Hall (2004). The recurrent themes across the participants’ narratives are “Americanness,” physical appearance, “neutral” accent and familial role. In Ava’s and Tara’s narratives, “Americanness,” which involves acquiring authenticity through an American accent, materials, and appearance (particularly a white-like appearance), significantly impacted their perceived authenticity. Vera’s narrative, on the other hand, emphasized the negotiation of authenticity using a “neutral accent” and her educational background, while Nora’s authority was derived from her motherhood experience.
However, Filipina teachers came across tensions of being illegitimate teachers in perceived Unequal English status, student-teacher power struggles, and platform policies, which often privilege the student over the teacher’s well-being. Filipino English was positioned as an Unequal English (Tupas, 2015) variety compared to the Inner Circle Englishes (Kachru, 1986), as it contributed to perceptions of illegitimacy and reinforced wage disparities based on nationality and ethnicity. Furthermore, platform policies exacerbated the already existing power imbalances between students and teachers, undermining the authority and agency of teachers.
To negotiate these challenges, teachers used a range of strategies: positioning oneself as affordable nativeness, adhering the rules of the platform, transgressing the stereotypes of South East Asian teachers, and pursuing mutual respect. It is notable that gender is particularly revisited in this study, along with the gendered structure in this industry, and decoupling of gender in Filipina teachers’ identities. Ava’s and Nora’s narratives show that the online ELT industry is structurally biased toward the attraction of married women balancing maternal responsibilities with career aspirations. Moreover, Filipina teachers tended to decouple their gender-related instances from their professional identities. This might be explained as a negotiating strategy to regain legitimacy in the face of Unequal English status of Filipino English.
This study contributes to the theoretical understanding of professional identity formation and negotiation in online ELT, more so on the experiences of Filipina teachers’ interactions with Korean students. The findings have pedagogical implications for developing more inclusive and socially just curricula and programs in online ELT. As this study contains certain limitations, further research is needed.
Keywords: Teacher Identity, Unequal English, Online English Language Teaching Platform, Filipino English, Korean English learner, Intersectionality, Gender
Student Number: 2021-20249