Professional Identity and Education Among Teachers of Portuguese as an Additional Language

Abstract

For various cultural, social and political reasons, most of Portuguese-as-an-ad­ditional-language (pla) teachers in Colombia are Portuguese "native speakers". However, these teachers lack specific training in the field of language teaching. In that context, this research asks about the professional trajectories of these native speaker teachers. In order to inquire about their training processes, we interviewed twenty-five pla teachers in six Colombian cities. Using a qualitative approach and a grounded theory methodology, we found “professional and formative debut” as a category of analysis that explains this group’s identification with language teaching. We concluded that pla teachers in Colombia identify with their work as a way to reconnect themselves with Brazilian language and culture. Despite this, the interviewees state they perceive specific needs regarding teacher training. Thus we can confirm the urgent for diploma or undergraduate courses aimed at training these professionals in Colombia.