Abstract

Identity refers to all the characteristics that “specify who we are and also how we see other people” and is formed with the accumulation of our own experiences and those from social life with regard to certain roles like professional, political or parental roles. Some of the characteristics of identity that determine and describe professional part of identity are regarded as professional identity. Professional identity emerges as a result of condensation of individuals’ own or society’s perceptions around various themes. In this study we aimed to examine how language teachers develop their professional identity from earlier ages to university years. The study group is composed of 18 teacher candidates, 8 of whom are from the department of Turkish language education and 10 attend elementary education department. Data gathered by interviews and analyzed by discourse analysis. According to the findings, while the identity conveys imaginary properties in childhood, it becomes realistic later. Considerable number of students chooses their area of professions with compulsory-mostly negative- conditions.

Key words: Turkish language teacher, identity, professional identity, discourse analysis.