Abstract

Whereas the topic of “Religion” has garnered considerable scholarly attention in the general education literature, its place within TESOL circles has long been contentious. It is only recently that the religious dimension of the TESOL profession and professionals has seen the light of day. Yet, even when the literature in ELT does engage with these issues, it mostly investigates links between evangelical Christianity and ELT. The relationship between other religions [e.g., Islam] and English language education remains remarkably underexplored . This qualitative multiple case study is an endeavor to address this scholarly gap as it investigates the place of religion within the professional identity construction of two male Saudi Muslim English language teachers in Saudi Arabia. By drawing on in-depth interviews as the primary source of data, and following the principles of an abductive content analysis approach, the study illuminates that Islam was central to the participants’ professional identities in three significant ways, namely: (1) supporting their wellbeing, (2) shaping their relationships with students, and (3) providing them with a sense of duty to safeguard students’ religious values. The study concludes with both theoretical and pedagogical implications as well as future research directions.

摘要

尽管“宗教”这个话题在通识教育文献中引起了相当多的学术关注，但它在 TESOL 圈子中的地位长期以来一直存在争议。直到最近，TESOL 专业和专业人士的宗教层面才出现。然而，即使 ELT 的文献确实涉及这些问题，它也主要研究福音派基督教与 ELT 之间的联系。其他宗教（例如伊斯兰教）与英语语言教育之间的关系仍然未被充分探索。这个定性的多案例研究旨在解决这一学术差距，因为它调查了宗教在沙特阿拉伯两名男性沙特穆斯林英语教师的专业身份建构中的地位。通过将深度访谈作为主要数据来源，并遵循溯因内容分析方法的原则，该研究表明伊斯兰教在三个重要方面对参与者的职业身份至关重要，即：（1）支持他们的幸福，（2）塑造他们与学生的关系，以及（3 ) 为他们提供维护学生宗教价值观的责任感。该研究总结了理论和教学意义以及未来的研究方向。