Volunteer tutors in adult Migrant English: Identity and discourse construction through storytelling

Volunteers contribute to the success of Australia’s Adult Migrant English Program (AMEP). This research employed a storytelling design in which a small group of volunteers from an AMEP provider in Melbourne shared stories of their linguistic backgrounds and experiences of volunteering. Using theories combining narrative analysis with concepts of positioning and categorisation, the volunteers’ accounts were analysed to show how they constructed their identities and personal discourses in their volunteering. The findings indicated that their practices aligned with the settlement and employment objectives of the AMEP and that volunteering in this sector can function as a form of political activism.