Language teachers’ experiences of identity tensions present valuable opportunities for researchers to understand the complex role of professional identity in shaping language teachers’ instructional practice. This exploratory sequential mixed-method study reports on identity tensions as experienced by teachers of Chinese as an additional language (CAL), and its role in mediating their instructional practice in intercultural teaching. First, seven types of professional and sociocultural identities related to intercultural teaching were generated based on interview responses and observation field notes from 10 CAL teachers. One hundred and three CAL teachers were then surveyed to identify the roles of these identities in mediating their approaches to intercultural teaching. An exploratory factor analysis of the survey data suggested that cultural learner identity, cultural bridge identity, and bearer of Chinese culture identity were significant predictors of fact-oriented or holistic development-oriented approaches to intercultural teaching. Furthermore, it was found that the tension and synergy among different identity components coexisted in mediating the participants’ efforts in intercultural teaching. The findings underscore the importance of adopting identity-oriented perspectives and approaches, and paying more attention to teacher identity tensions in supporting language teachers’ professional practice and development.
AnspalT.LeijenÄ.LöfströmE. (2019). Tensions and the teacher’s role in student teacher identity development in primary and subject teacher curricula. Scandinavian Journal of Educational Research, 63, 679–695.
2.
AydenizM.HodgeL.L. (2011). Is it dichotomy or tension: I am a scientist. No, wait! I am a teacher!Cultural Studies of Science Education, 6, 165–179.
3.
BarkhuizenG. (2017). Investigating language tutor social inclusion identities. The Modern Language Journal, 101, 61–75.
4.
BeijaardD.MeijerP.C.VerloopN. (2004). Reconsidering research on teachers’ professional identity. Teaching and Teacher Education, 20, 107–128.
5.
BeijaardD.VerloopN.VermuntJ.D. (2000). Teachers’ perceptions of professional identity: An exploratory study from a personal knowledge perspective. Teaching and Teacher Education, 16, 749–764.
6.
Ben-PeretzM.FloresM.A. (2018). Tensions and paradoxes in teaching: Implications for teacher education. European Journal of Teacher Education, 41, 202–213.
7.
BorgS. (2012). Current approaches to language teacher cognition research: A methodological analysis. In BernardR.BurnsA. (Eds.), Researching language teacher cognition and practice: International case studies (pp. 11–27). Multilingual Matters.
8.
BritzmanD. (1991). Practice makes practice: A critical study of learning to teach. State University of New York Press.
9.
ByramM. (1997). Teaching and assessing intercultural communicative competence. Multilingual Matters.
10.
CastleberryA.NolenA. (2018). Thematic analysis of qualitative research data: Is it as easy as it sounds?Currents in Pharmacy Teaching and Learning, 10, 807–815.
11.
CostelloA.B.OsborneJ. (2005). Best practices in exploratory factor analysis: Four recommendations for getting the most from your analysis. Practical Assessment, Research, and Evaluation, 10, 1–9.
12.
CreswellJ.W. (2005). Educational research: Planning, conducting, and evaluating quantitative and qualitative research. Pearson.
13.
CreswellJ.W.KlassenA.C.Plano ClarkV.L.SmithK.C. (2011). Best practices for mixed methods research in the health sciences (pp. 541–545). National Institutes of Health.
14.
DavisonC.LaiW.Y.A. (2007). Competing identities, common issues: Teaching (in) Putonghua. Language Policy, 6, 119–134.
15.
DervinF. (2011). A plea for change in research on intercultural discourses: A ‘liquid’ approach to the study of the acculturation of Chinese students. Journal of Multicultural Discourses, 6, 37–52.
16.
DetersP. (2011). Identity, agency and the acquisition of professional language and culture. Continuum.
17.
DuffP.A.UchidaY. (1997). The negotiation of teachers’ sociocultural identities and practices in postsecondary EFL classrooms. TESOL Quarterly, 31, 451–486.
18.
GaoY.CuiY.De CostaP.I. (2022). ‘Agree to disagree’: Reconciling an English teacher’s identity tensions in negotiating an educational reform through a community of practice perspective. Language Teaching Research. Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1177/13621688221130125
19.
GeeJ.P. (2000). Identity as an analytic lens for research in education. Review of Research in Education, 25, 99–125.
20.
GolombekP. (2017). Grappling with language teacher identity. In BarkhuizenG. (Ed.), Reflections on language teacher identity research (pp. 151–157). Routledge.
21.
GongY.GaoX.LyuB. (2020). Teaching Chinese as a second or foreign language to non-Chinese learners in mainland China (2014-2018). Language Teaching, 53(1), 44–62.
22.
GongY.LaiC.GaoX. (2022). Language teachers’ identity in teaching intercultural communicative competence. Language, Culture and Curriculum, 35(2), 134–150.
23.
GongY.HuX.LaiC. (2018a). Chinese as a second language teachers’ cognition in teaching intercultural communicative competence. System, 78, 224–233.
24.
GongY.LyuB.GaoX. (2018b). Research on teaching Chinese as a second or foreign language in and outside mainland China: A bibliometric analysis. The Asia-Pacific Education Researcher, 27(4), 277–289.
25.
HannaF.OostdamR.SeveriensS.E.ZijlstraB.J. (2019). Domains of teacher identity: A review of quantitative measurement instruments. Educational Research Review, 27, 15–27.
26.
HenryA. (2016). Conceptualizing teacher identity as a complex dynamic system: The inner dynamics of transformations during a practicum. Journal of Teacher Education, 67, 291–305.
KramschC.ZhangL. (2018). The multilingual instructor. Oxford University Press.
29.
MaX.GongY.GaoX.XiangY. (2017). The teaching of Chinese as a second or foreign language: A systematic review of the literature 2005-2015. Journal of Multilingual and Multicultural Development, 38(9), 815–830.
30.
MaxwellJ.A. (2005). Qualitative research design: An interactive approach. Sage.
31.
Menard-WarwickJ. (2008). The cultural and intercultural identities of transnational English teachers: Two case studies from the Americas. TESOL Quarterly, 42, 617–640.
32.
MorganB. (2004). Teacher identity as pedagogy: Towards a field-internal conceptualisation in bilingual and second language education. International Journal of Bilingual Education and Bilingualism, 7, 172–188.
33.
OrtaçtepeD. (2015). EFL teachers’ identity (re)construction as teachers of intercultural competence: A language socialization approach. Journal of Language, Identity and Education, 14, 96–112.
34.
PappaS.MoateJ.Ruohotie-LyhtyM.EteläpeltoA. (2017). Teachers’ pedagogical and relational identity negotiation in the Finnish CLIL context. Teaching and Teacher Education, 65, 61–70.
35.
PillenM.BeijaardD.BrokP.D. (2013a). Tensions in beginning teachers’ professional identity development, accompanying feelings and coping strategies. European Journal of Teacher Education, 36, 240–260.
36.
PillenM.BeijaardD.BrokP.D. (2013b). Professional identity tensions of beginning teachers. Teachers and Teaching, 19, 660–678.
37.
SaldañaJ. (2015). The coding manual for qualitative researchers. Sage.
38.
SercuL. (2010). Assessing intercultural competence: More questions than answers. In ParanA.SercuL. (Eds.), Testing the untestable in language education (pp. 17–34). Multilingual Matters.
39.
SøreideG.E. (2006). Narrative construction of teacher identity: Positioning and negotiation. Teachers and Teaching, 12, 527–547.
40.
TajeddinZ.GhaffaryanS. (2020). Language teachers’ intercultural identity in the critical context of cultural globalization and its metaphoric realization. Journal of Intercultural Communication Research, 49, 263–281.
41.
TajeddinZ.RezanejadA. (2018). Intercultural teaching in L2 classrooms: Exploring English language teachers’ beliefs. The International Journal of Humanities, 25, 79–97.
42.
TolosaC.BiebricherC.EastM.HowardJ. (2018). Intercultural language teaching as a catalyst for teacher inquiry. Teaching and Teacher Education, 70, 227–235.
43.
van der WalM.M.Oolbekkink-MarchandH.W.SchaapH.MeijerP.C. (2019). Impact of early career teachers’ professional identity tensions. Teaching and Teacher Education, 80, 59–70.
44.
Van LankveldT.SchoonenboomJ.VolmanM.CroisetG.BeishuizenJ. (2017). Developing a teacher identity in the university context: A systematic review of the literature. Higher Education Research and Development, 36, 325–342.
45.
VetterA.HartmanS.V.ReynoldsJ.M. (2016). Confronting unsuccessful practices: Repositioning teacher identities in English education. Teaching Education, 27, 305–326.
46.
WengerE. (2010). Communities of practice and social learning systems: The career of a concept. In BlackmoreC. (Ed.), Social learning systems and communities of practice (pp. 179–198). Springer.
47.
WolfingerN.H. (2002). On writing fieldnotes: Collection strategies and background expectancies. Qualitative Research, 2, 85–93.
48.
WuH.P.PalmerD.K.FieldS.L. (2011). Understanding teachers’ professional identity and beliefs in the Chinese heritage language school in the USA. Language, Culture and Curriculum, 24, 47–60.
49.
XuS.ConnellyF.M. (2009). Narrative inquiry for teacher education and development: Focus on English as a foreign language in China. Teaching and Teacher Education, 25, 219–227.
50.
XuY.TaoJ. (2023). The pedagogical and socio-affective dimensions of identity tensions and teacher agency: Case studies of university English teachers teaching online. Language Teaching Research. Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1177/13621688221151047
51.
YazanB. (2018a). A conceptual framework to understand language teacher identities. Journal of Second Language Teacher Education, 1, 21–48.
52.
YazanB. (2018b). Being and becoming an ESOL teacher through coursework and internship: Three teacher candidates’ identity negotiation. Critical Inquiry in Language Studies, 15, 205–227.
53.
YuanR.MakP. (2018). Reflective learning and identity construction in practice, discourse and activity: Experiences of pre-service language teachers in Hong Kong. Teaching and Teacher Education, 74, 205–214.
