Introduction
The topic of language teacher identity receives strong attention in current scholarly literature. Understanding the complexities of identities that second/foreign language teachers construct is crucial because the ways teachers perceive themselves as professionals impact teacher development (e.g., Kanno & Stuart, 2011*), interactions with peers and colleagues (e.g., Kayi-Aydar, 2015*), pedagogical choices or classroom practices (e.g., Duff & Uchida, 1997*), and access to power and ownership of language (De Costa & Norton, 2017*; Varghese et al., 2016*), ultimately undergirding or undermining second/foreign language teaching (Varghese et al., 2016*).
When the historical development of the literature on language teacher identities is considered, one can see that this topic received the most attention after 2010. My extensive search of the literature yielded no results for the 1980s. The studies in the 1980s and 1990s mostly focused on language teacher cognition, teacher beliefs, or teacher learning, with almost no link to the identities of the language teachers. However, this body of research is the foundational work for the subsequent studies on language teacher identities, which are indeed an outgrowth and even a reaction to the shortcomings of some of this earlier work. Furthermore, the focus, in the 1990s, was on the identities of language learners rather than teachers. This is not surprising because with the seminal work of Bonny Norton (at the time Bonny Norton Peirce) (Reference Peirce1995) on the identities of five immigrant women who were learners of the English language, the topic of learner identities immediately received strong attention. It was not until the late 1990s when scholars began to examine second/foreign language teacher identities resulting in an exponential growth in literature since 2010. The scholarship on learner identity back then indicated that ‘the teacher too was not a neutral player in the classroom, but on the contrary, her positionality in relation to her students, and to the broader context in which the teacher was situated was vital’ (Varghese et al., 2005*: 22). Therefore, a shift in focus on learner identity to teacher identity was inevitable.
Early studies heavily and primarily focused on linguistic identities, in particular, how language teachers formed and negotiated their non-native speaker (NNS) identities in educational contexts (e.g., Pavlenko, 2003*). This negotiation would entail tensions that NNS teachers experience as they ‘resist dichotomized notions of nativeness and non-nativeness dominant in the field’ (Varghese et al., 2016: 552) during the process in which they work toward claiming professional identities and making sense of their work as language teachers. A common thread of these early studies is the distinction between native speakers (NSs) and NNSs and the potential impact of it on the professional identities of NNS language teachers. The writings by applied linguists, such as Pennycook (Reference Pennycook1994), Canagarajah (Reference Canagarajah1999), and Kumaravadivelu (Reference Kumaravadivelu2001, Reference Kumaravadivelu2003), on the capitalist and neoliberal ideologies and politics associated specifically with teaching English as a global language has not only capitalized on the issues of power, privilege, and (in)equality but also significantly contributed to the research on NNS teachers especially in the field of English language teaching (ELT)/Teaching English as a second language (TESOL).
Later on, studies expanded the notion of teacher identity by focusing on the sociocultural identities of language teachers. Mostly drawing from sociocultural theory and communities of practice framework (e.g., Tsui, 2007*), these studies explored the identity development of language teachers in their social contexts. The social turn in SLA (e.g., Block Reference Block2003; Firth & Wagner, Reference Firth and Wagner1997, Reference Firth and Wagner2007), that ‘suggests a more interdisciplinary and socially informed approach to SLA’ (Block, Reference Block2003: 2), undoubtedly played a key role in the development of this line of research. Johnson (Reference Johnson and Hall2016: 122) describes the social turn in second language (L2) teacher education:
Within the context of L2 teacher education, therefore, the learning of L2 teaching is no longer viewed as a matter of simply translating theories of linguistics and/or SLA into effective instructional practices but as a dialogic process of co-constructing knowledge that is situated in and emerges out of participation in particular sociocultural practices and contexts. Instead, the typical ways of acting and interacting, and the values, assumptions, and attitudes that are embedded in the classrooms where teachers were once students, in the teacher education programs where they receive their professional credentialing and in the schools where they work, shape the complex ways in which they come to think about themselves, their students, the activities of L2 teaching, and the processes of L2 teaching-learning.
The most recent line of research has been heavily influenced by the poststructural approaches (see Pavlenko, 2002; Morgan, 2007). The studies in this group (e.g., Huang & Varghese, 2015*) have emphasized the plurality and composite nature of language teacher identities mostly in the contexts of competing discourses and ideologies. In the majority of these studies, language teacher identities are described as multiple, complex, and shifting. They have considered the ethnic, racial, cultural, and gendered identities of teachers in historical, sociopolitical, educational, and socio-economic contexts demonstrating the complexities associated with language teacher identities. The link between language teacher identities and agency as well as the relationship between teacher identities and emotions are both emerging areas within this recent research (e.g., Kayi-Aydar, 2015*; De Costa & Norton, 2017*; Tao & Gao, 2017*).
A wide variety of contexts and research methods are evident in the timeline below. While a significant number of the studies have been conducted on M.A. TESOL students, especially in classrooms or contexts in the U.S., identities of English as a foreign language (EFL) teachers have been examined extensively as well, but surprisingly, this mostly occurred in educational contexts in Japan. Furthermore, language teacher identities have been investigated in relation to numerous issues, such as educational reforms (e.g., Tsui, 2007*), language ideologies (e.g., Simon-Maeda, 2004*), or institutional demands (e.g., Duff & Uchida, 1997*), all of which are associated with or unique to certain contexts or settings. Regarding the methods used, narrative inquiry has been the most commonly utilized approach (Barkhuizen, 2017*). Case study design has also been used widely (e.g., Duff & Uchida, 1997*). The methodological choices in the studies have led to the investigations of different types of language teacher identities, such as narrated (e.g., Kanno & Stuart, 2011*), enacted (e.g., Kanno & Stuart, 2011*), or designated (e.g., Urzúa & Vásquez, 2008*; Liu & Xu, 2011*) identities.
This timeline aims to show the historical development of the scholarly work on the topic of second/foreign language teacher identities. The selection criteria were a challenge as I tried to include the most influential empirical, conceptual, or theoretical pieces including books and studies published in refereed academic journals. The timeline excludes studies that focused on the identities of regular classroom teachers or classroom teachers who teach language learners in mainstream classrooms (e.g., teachers of English learners in K-12 classrooms in the U.S.), which is also an important and growing area of research within the general teacher education literature. Limits on space meant I had to exclude dissertations as well as papers/books published in a language other than English. The resulting timeline illustrates the international and interdisciplinary sampling, in terms of the variety of the theoretical approaches drawn from other disciplines and fields, as well as the historical development of the language teacher identity literature. The timeline categorizes the studies according to the following themes:
(A) Theoretical framework
A1 Communities of practice
A2 Critical theory
A3 Positioning theory
A4 Vygotskian sociocultural theory
A5 Bakhtinian framework
(B) Participant profile
B1 Non-native speakers (NNSs)
B2 Native speakers (NSs)
B3 M.A. TESOL student-teachers
B4 New/novice teachers
B5 Experienced teachers
B6 Pre-service teachers
(C) Kinds of language teacher identities
C1 Narrated identities
C2 Identities-in-practice
C3 Gendered identities
C4 Future selves
C5 Sociocultural identities
(D) Contextual issues
D1 Identity in the reform context
D2 Identities and ideologies
D3 Identities and institutional demands
Regarding the categories above, it is important to highlight a number of points. Even though numerous scholars may consider A1 through A5 as sociocultural approaches, I did not combine them in one category as there are certain nuances and differences among them, which is beyond the scope of this paper to explain (for a an overview of major approaches to identity, see Benwell & Stokoe, Reference Benwell and Stokoe2006; for an overview of the theoretical frameworks above, see Atkinson, Reference Atkinson2011; for a comparison of sociocultural approaches in applied linguistics, see Zuengler & Miller, Reference Zuengler and Miller2006). The boundaries of these frameworks are not clear-cut, and SLA scholars may not always agree on categorizations. For this timeline, I primarily draw upon Zuengler and Miller (Reference Zuengler and Miller2006) in categorizing frameworks. Perhaps the broadest category in the first section above is ‘critical theory.’ This framework includes studies that mainly focus on power and sociopolitical issues or draw upon poststructuralism. Furthermore, in numerous studies included in this timeline, researchers use more than one theoretical framework. Thus, it is common to see studies that combine or draw upon multiple sociocultural frameworks instead of relying on only one (e.g., Pavlenko, 2003). In regards to the participant profile, B3 might look too specific, but given the number of studies that have focused on the identities of individuals enrolled in M.A. TESOL programs, this group deserves to have its own category. Category C groups studies according to the kinds of identities examined. The studies in category C1 have concentrated on analyzing and understanding identity work in narrative contexts whereas C2 category focuses on studies that examined identities, mostly using observational data, as teachers engaged in teaching practices. C3 includes studies that investigated the role of gender and sexual orientation in teacher identity development. Studies that explored how teachers perceived themselves in the future are categorized under C4. Finally, C5 broadly refers to examination of teacher identities with a particular focus on the link between language and culture.
Hayriye Kayi-Aydar is Associate Professor of English Applied Linguistics at the University of Arizona. Her current research interests include teacher identity, teacher agency, and positioning theory. Her work has been published in journals such as TESOL Quarterly, Teaching and Teacher Education, System, ELT Journal, Classroom Discourse, and Journal of Language, Identity, and Education. She is the author of the monograph Positioning theory in applied linguistics: Research design and applications (Palgrave MacMillan, 2019).
