(De)legitimization: The Impact of Language Policy on Identity Development in an EFL Teacher

Based on Bordieuan concepts of symbolic power and legitimization, this study analyzes the identity of a language teacher in Puebla, Mexico. Through a series of in‐depth interviews, we examine how Mexican institutions may (de)legitimize the teaching expertise of an EFL educator by promoting a discourse of “native”‐speakerism. In contrast with existing literature, this study is situated in the Puebla context, wherein the Poblano State government granted permanent teaching positions to Mexican bilingual transnationals with no formal teacher training. While our participant contested some of the dominant language ideologies, such as the use of language certifications, she also appeared to internalize deficit discourses about her “non‐nativeness,” which made her question her own pedagogical identity. We found that some of our participant’s deficit views were reinforced during her own teacher preparation and professional development. By analyzing our participant’s perspectives in terms of current scholarship—such as Higgins, 2017; Kachru, 2005; Rudolph, Selvin, & Yazan, 2015—, we aim to generalize results to teacher preparation in other contexts so that processes of delegitimization based on the “native” speaker fallacy are less often perpetuated.