Although teaching associations (TAs) have been aligned to professionalism, there is little evidence to support their actual role in developing EFL teachers’ sense of being a professional. This study explores this purported relationship through content analysis of interviews with ten members of TAs and nine non-members. Three themes emerged: status, how TAs contribute to teachers’ sense of self-worth; continuing professional development (CPD), how TAs allow teachers to acquire competencies relevant to professionalism; and impact, the influence of TAs on the professionalism of EFL as a field. Regarding status, non-members rejected members’ commitment to TA membership as confirmation of professionalism. However, all teachers agreed TAs made a considerable contribution to professionalism through CPD. Concerning impact, the only consensus was that too few teachers are aware of TAs for them to be significant. The findings suggest that TAs can play a role in professionalism provided they remain relevant to teachers’ changing contexts and consider non-members’ interests.

中文翻译：

---

教学协会和专业精神

尽管教学协会（TAs）已与专业精神保持一致，但几乎没有证据支持其在培养EFL教师的专业意识方面的实际作用。本研究通过对10位TA成员和9位非成员的访谈进行内容分析，探索了这种所谓的关系。出现了三个主题：地位，助教如何促进教师的自我价值感；持续专业发展（CPD），助教如何使教师获得与专业相关的能力；和影响，TA对EFL作为一个专业领域的影响。关于地位，非会员拒绝会员对TA会员资格的承诺，以确认其专业水平。但是，所有教师都同意，助教会通过CPD为专业精神做出巨大贡献。关于影响，唯一的共识是，只有很少的老师知道助教才有意义。研究结果表明，助教可以在专业上发挥作用，只要它们与教师不断变化的情境相关并考虑非成员的利益。