Using Memes to Facilitate TESOL Student Teachers' Reflections on Identity

Abstract

While reflection on one's own developing language teacher identity is a valuable experience for TESOL student teachers, written reflections and concerns about evaluation make it challenging to engage in authentic reflection. This paper reports on a novel method—meme creation and collaborative analysis via a descriptive review process—to facilitate TESOL student teacher reflection on their identity development and practicum experiences. Creating and collaboratively analyzing memes created opportunities for the student teachers in this study to identify and begin to examine assumptions about what it means to be TESOL student teachers and do English language teaching. Suggestions are offered for using the meme creation and analysis process as both a research method and a pedagogical tool to support (student) teachers' identity reflections.