Abstract:
This study explores the dynamic interplay among teacher identity, agency and context as these influence how secondary English-as-a-Foreign-Language (EFL) teachers experiencedthe communicative language teaching (CLT) - oriented curriculum in Vietnam. This study was framed under asociocultural perspective, incorporating the concept of mediated agency (Wertschet al., 1993)to understand how these teachers responded to the change.Data were derived from multiple interviews with classroom teachers and school leaders, complemented with classroom observationsand related documents. The findings reveal the teachers’ responses to the reform were complex andhighlyindividualised. The teachers’ agentic actions in relation to the new curriculumweredirected by various identity commitments, as shaped by their prior learning and teaching experiences and the current reform context.The study concludes with implications and research suggestions.