This exploratory cross-national study investigates how the perceived plurilingual identity of pre-service teachers affects their self-efficacy. Data sources included 40 language portraits and in-depth semi-structured interviews. Initial inductive content analysis revealed a number of predominant themes suggesting that pre-service teachers‘ plurilingual identity is closely intertwinded with their sense of self-efficacy.
It is wideley acknowledged that language teacher identity plays a central role in teachers' learning-to-teach processes and instructional practices. Self-efficacy, i.e., teachers' beliefs in their capabilities to successfully perform instructional tasks (Bandura, 1997), is theorized to constitute an important dimension of teacher professional identity and development. Recent research highlights the powerful impact of teachers' linguistic repertoire on their professional practices and identity (Ellis, 2016). Yet, further research is needed in order to gain a deep understanding of the impact of teachers' plurilingual identity on their professional practices in different teaching and learning contexts. This exploratory cross-national study was set out to investigate how the perceived plurilingual idendity of pre-service teachers affect their self-efficacy, i.e., personal beliefs about their teaching capabilities. Thirty pre-service multilingual teachers from Israel and Austria (15 preservice teachers from each country) who were studying to become foreign language teachers participated in the study. Data sources included language portraits and in-depth semi-structured interviews. Initial inductive content analysis data revealed a number of predominant themes suggesting that pre-service teachers' plurilingual identity is closely intertwinded with their sense of self-efficacy during their learning to teach process. The language learning biographies of the pre-service teachers seem to cast influence upon a wide array of professional development dimensions, ranging from teachers' motivation to teach and investment in the profession, their perceived classroom experiences and instructional performance as well as their well-being. The findings obtained from the study are important for understanding and improving teacher educational processes. Specifically, they call for encouraging pre-service teachers to use their repertoire as a resource in their professional development. Bandura, A. (1997). Self-efficacy: the exercise of control. 1. print. New York, NY: Freeman. Ellis, E.M. (2016). "I may be a native speaker but I'm not monolingual": Reimagining all teachers' linguistic identities in TESOL. TESOL Quarterly, 50(3), 597-630.
