NARRATIVE INQUIRY: EXPERIENCES IN ENGLISH LEARNING AND TEACHING

This paper aims to describe a narrative inquiry study carried out with a group of English teachers, novice and professional teachers, who belong to a B.A program in Teaching English as a Foreign Language in the context of distance education of Colombia. The voices of the participants have been documented through methodological sources that correspond to autobiographical texts, semistructured interviews and written narrative frames, which "provide guidance and support in terms of both the structure and content of what is to be narrated" based on (Barkhuizen and Wette, 2008, p. 376). The study supported the interpretation of data within three categories yielded from the collection of the participants' narrative: (a) Experiences in English learning, (b) Experiences in English teaching and (c) contextual characteristics that influenced the research and teaching experiences of the participants. Also, the presentation intends to disseminate the formative process of the research group identified as a Research Mentorship Program, in which novice teachers develop research competences as part of their academic process as professional teachers. Furthermore, the presentation will evidence the necessity of studying "research insights into classrooms and communities" based on Norton, B., and Early, M., (2011, p. 417). The authors aforementioned establish that the relationship between research and education is a "co-construction of the teacher educator in the research field, p. 417," which implies to hear the voices of teacher educators and novice teachers. Findings and reflections of the presentation may constitute an important aspect for the context of language research and education. Indeed, Barkhuizen (2016) states that, "knowledge construction that takes place during the narrative research yields from (co) constructing narratives" (p. 29). It is pertinent to reflect upon the challenges that teacher educators should tackle in terms of research and education. Citing Barkhuizen, ( 2011) narrative inquiry guides teachers and researchers to "become aware and understand themselves as educators and their own practices" (p. 394). Likewise, Clandinin and Caine, 2012 consider that "the reconstruction of a teacher's life through narratives will allow for reflection on the way their social and academic experiences have impacted their current and future practices ", (p. 171). As this study is a narrative inquiry, it will make visible unheard reflections from stakeholders in the context of education and research, valuable to reflect upon and construct new knowledge.