Constructing and Validating Teachers’ Professional Identity Questionnaire: The Case of EFL Prospective Teachers

In recent years, teachers’ professional identity has been considered the core of their professional development. In line with this novel approach, this study aimed at constructing and validating a questionnaire to assess EFL prospective teachers’ professional identity. Through a comprehensive review of related literature and previously-validated scales, the most common subscales and items were carefully identified. After assuring reliability and content validity of the initial questionnaire, a convenience sample of of 186 prospective teachers majoring in teaching English as a foreign language filled out the questionnaire. The results of the confirmatory and exploratory factor analyses indicated that the professional identity of the target group consists of seven components, namely, task orientation (6 items), professional commitment (4 items), self-concept (7 items), self-efficacy (5 items), career motivation (9 items), job attachment (5 items) and collective identity (4 items). Therefore, the validated questionnaire can be used for assessing EFL prospective teachers’ professional identity. This questionnaire can be used as a suitable instrument to assess the professional identity of applicants to teacher education programs and assess the formation and evolution of the professional identity in the target group from admission to graduation.