Understanding Novice Teachers’ Professional Identities through Metaphors: A Case Study of University EFL Teachers in China

Teacher professional identity plays a pivotal role in shaping instructional practices and professional development. Metaphors serve as powerful analytical lenses through which teachers can articulate and make sense of their professional identities. While previous studies have examined language teacher identity from various theoretical perspectives, limited attention has been paid to how novice EFL teachers understand and enact their professional identities through metaphors within the context of university reading instruction. This qualitative case study explored the metaphorical identities of two novice university EFL teachers in China. Data were collected through semi-structured interviews, classroom observations, and stimulated recall interviews, and analysed using metaphor analysis supported by thematic coding. The findings identified six metaphorical roles: teacher as facilitator, tour guide, learner, friend, scaffolder, and torch. These roles reflected the participants’ understandings of their professional identities, expressed through practices such as providing cultural and textual support, fostering collaborative learning, creating emotionally supportive classrooms, motivating student engagement, and offering scaffolded guidance toward independent reading. The findings also revealed tensions in role enactment, as teachers negotiated between supporting students and promoting learner autonomy, while balancing approachability with professional authority. These findings suggest that novice teachers’ professional identities are dynamic and multifaceted, involving ongoing adjustments between intended roles and classroom demands. The study highlights the value of metaphor analysis as a means of understanding the construction and enactment of novice EFL teachers’ professional identities in Chinese higher education and offers implications for teacher education and professional development.