Search

Negotiating Professional Identities in Post-Monolingual Classrooms: A Qualitative Study on Saudi Tertiary-level Bilingual EFL Teachers. Education & Pedagogy Journal. 2026;2(18):45-71. DOI:

This study examines how bilingual EFL teachers in Saudi higher education perceive and negotiate their professional identities while teaching monolingual Arabic-speaking students in English-only institutional settings. Grounded in poststructuralist identity, translanguaging, and language ideology theories, the research explores the intersection of pedagogy, identity, and institutional regulation in post-monolingual EFL classrooms. Using a qualitative multiple-case study design, data were collected from 10 bilingual instructors at 3 universities through semi-structured interviews, classroom observations, and reflective teaching journals over a 6-week period. The data were thematically analysed to enable coding, triangulation, and cross-case comparison. Findings show that teachers strategically used Arabic to scaffold complex content, maintain learner engagement, and address the affective dimensions of teaching, while navigating English-only policy constraints through selective compliance and subtle resistance. Reflective journals revealed identity dissonance stemming from tensions between pedagogical beliefs and institutional expectations, with reflection serving as a mechanism for ethical sense-making and professional resilience. Rather than passive policy implementers, the teachers emerged as reflexive practitioners who constructed professional identity through translanguaging, emotional reflexivity, and adaptive pedagogy. The study highlights the need for institutional policies that recognise and support teachers’ multilingual repertoires in Saudi EFL contexts.

Keywords: Poststructuralist identity, translanguaging, language ideology, professional resilience, policy surveillance