Education paper by Lugossy, Réka
University of Pécs, Hungary

Revealing Multiple Identities: Research into Hungarian EFL Teachers' Beliefs about Using Stories

Type of Abstract (select):

Abstract (max. 250 words):
The talk explores Hungarian EFL teachers’ beliefs about the educational value of stories and it examines how these beliefs are linked to teachers’ multiple identities. Despite the widely accepted cognitive, affective and linguistic benefits of telling and listening to stories (Bettelheim, 1991; Bruner, 1996; Elley, 1989; Schank & Abelson, 1995; Webster & Mertova, 2007), the convention in most Hungarian schools is to regard narratives as a decoration, instead of exploiting its potential as a context for imaginative and meaningful learning. Data gained from classroom observation and teachers’ narratives reveal a mismatch between current learning theories and teachers’ educational practice and they highlight the need to see teachers’ professional identities as shaped not only by their community of practice, but also by their specific cultural and educational traditions. It also appears from the research that learners’ development cannot be conceptualized without teachers’ growth: they are parts of the same complex, relational process which is indissociable from the social context, and from participants’ personal, professional and cultural history.


Brief Professional Bio (max. 100 words):
I started my career as a primary and secondary school teacher of English, first in Transylvania (Romania), then in Hungary. In the past 20 years I have worked as a teacher trainer at the University of Pécs in Hungary, teaching courses on how to apply narratives in TEFL, on integrating language and content (CLIL) and on exploring teachers’ beliefs about teaching and learning. I have published in English mostly on the role of educational culture in language learning and teaching, on teachers’ beliefs and on the role of narratives in children’s meaning making and in teacher cognition.