Identity Construction in a Remote Learning Context during the COVID-۱۹ Pandemic: BA versus MA Students in a Teacher Training University

The outbreak of Covid-۱۹ has brought about a sudden shift from in-person to online classes. in such a remote teaching and learning context, the students were no longer ableto meet their instructors and classmates in person. The current study aimed to investigate how the BA and MA students of Teaching English as a Foreign Language (TEFL)constructed their identity at the onset of the academic year while introducing themselves.To this end, the recorded video files of ۲۲ BA and ۱۵ MA students were analyzed and the recurrent themes and moves were identified from a critical perspective. The results revealed several commonalities and discrepancies between the two groups in terms of the constituent discursive practices. The findings can have practical implications for reinforcing the acceptable patterns of identity construction in academic communities.Moreover, the results raise the educational programmers’ consciousness about the significant role of the teaching and learning experiences in shaping the learners’ identitiesand the importance of the classrooms as social places for shaping the learners’ identities.