THE IMPACT OF CURRICULUM PRESCRIPTION ON ENGLISH TEACHER PROFESSIONAL IDENTITY IN OMAN

This thesis presents the findings from an empirical research that explored the impact of curriculum prescription on the development of English Language (L2) teachers‘ professional identity (TPI) in the Sultanate of Oman. This research examined the intertwined concept of TPI from a multifaceted theoretical perspective in order to reach deep insights into the factors that contribute to its development in a prescriptive curriculum context. Through a qualitative and interpretive research, this study explored the perceptions of L2 teachers on their professional identity through a triangulation of data collection methods. The focus groups with the teachers represented the real sample of state schools in the Omani educational system. The sample was representative in relation to gender (male and female), years of teaching experience and schools (primary, intermediate and secondary or as addressed locally: Cycle-One, Cycle-Two and Post-Basic Education schools). This study also interviewed authorities from the Ministry of Education who worked in Curriculum, Supervision and Training. Additionally, national policy and curriculum documents were analysed qualitatively as part of this research process. Through the adoption of a qualitative content analysis approach, the findings from this research supported previous research and clearly demonstrated that TPI is not static or rigid- rather it proved to be evolving, dynamic and influenced by the teachers lived experiences. The findings highlighted that not only faith, culture, personality traits and the moral values teachers hold for teaching and learning appear to underpin their professional identity, but their emotions and gender influence this identity as well. This research makes a significant contribution towards understanding the academic field of EFL/TESOL teacher identity by providing new knowledge regarding what impacts on and contributes to the development of EFL non-native TPI and the extent of this impact on a local and global scale.