A Case Study of Young TAFL Teachers’ Social Action in Teaching and Researching

Abstract

As higher education systems worldwide shift toward performance-based models, increasing attention is being paid to the role of individual teacher agency in ensuring educational quality. Within this context, exploring how teachers enact high-quality teaching and research has become a key concern in both global and local educational discourses. In recent years, the Chinese government has strongly advocated for the development of high-quality education, calling for improvements in teacher competence and the quality of teaching and research. Arabic language education, as an important part of foreign language education in Chinese universities, has sparked various academic discussions on how to enhance its quality. However, many studies have focused on what teachers should do to improve educational quality while neglecting the teachers themselves. This study employs a qualitative case study approach, using Parsons’ unit act framework to analyze the teaching and research actions of an outstanding young Chinese TAFL (Teaching Arabic as a Foreign Language) teacher from the perspective of individual teacher actions. It aims to address the research question of how outstanding TAFL teachers engage in high-quality educational actions, thereby providing a data foundation for the study of the TAFL teacher community.

Keywords: Case study, Social action, TAFL teacher, China, Teaching and researching

DOI: 10.7176/JEP/16-7-01

Publication date: July 30^th 2025