“Fish out of Water”

Abstract

Language teacher identity is one of the most underresearched topics that has risen in importance to understand language teachers, especially in recent years with the increase in sociocultural frameworks. To that end, the present chapter aimed to explore pre-service EFL teachers' professional identity via metaphors. Participants were 20 fourth-year pre-service EFL teachers studying at a state university in Turkey. Data were collected through an open-ended questionnaire including fill-in-the-blank statements and analyzed qualitatively with constant comparative method. The findings suggested that most of the EFL teacher candidates viewed themselves as learners. In addition, there were also participants who considered pre-service EFL teachers as scaffolder, director, nurturer, knowledge provider, entertainer, and cooperative leader. In the light of results, it is expected that teacher educators and curriculum developers can gain insights into EFL teacher candidates' inner thoughts, feelings, and beliefs that reflect their professional teaching identity.