Skip to main content

Teacher Cognition and Identity

  • Chapter
  • First Online:
Language Teacher Cognition
  • 870 Accesses

Abstract

Teacher identity and role are important in effective teaching (Richards, Applied Linguistics, 27, 51–77, 2006) as teachers are the most critical player in deciding what learning is and what resources are brought into learning. For a long time, teachers are assumed with one professional identity, and little has been explored about the different identities they assume in their interactions with learners (Li, Social interaction and teacher cognition. Edinburgh University Press, 2017a; Gray & Morton, Social interaction and teacher identity. Edinburgh University Press, 2018). In this chapter, different identities are explored through teachers’ talk with their intercalants, learners, such as developing practical knowledge, making investment, emotions, agency to exercise powers, imagined and practised identity, and language-related identities.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

Chapter
USD 29.95
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
eBook
USD 79.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Hardcover Book
USD 99.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Durable hardcover edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Institutional subscriptions

References

  • Barkhuizen, G. (2010). An extended positioning analysis of a pre-service teacher’s better life small story. Applied Linguistics, 31(2), 282–300.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Barkhuizen, G. (2016a). Narrative approaches to exploring language, identity and power in language teacher education. RELC Journal, 47(1), 25–42.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Barkhuizen, G. (2016b). A short story approach to analyzing teacher (imagined) identities over time. TESOL Quarterly, 50(3), 655–683.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Beauchamp, C., & Thomas, L. (2011). New teachers’ identity shifts at the boundary of teacher education and initial practice. International Journal of Educational Research, 50(1), 6–13.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Beckett, G., & Stiefvater, A. (2009). Change in ESL graduate students’ perspectives on non-native English-speaker teachers. TESL Canada Journal, 27(1), 27–46. https://doi.org/10.18806/tesl.v27i1.1028

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Beijaard, D., Meijer, P. C., & Verloop, N. (2004). Reconsidering research on teachers’ professional identity. Teaching and Teacher Education, 20(2), 107–128.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Block, D. (2005). Convergence and resistance in the construction of personal and professional identities: Four French modern language teachers in London. In S. A. Canagarajah (Ed.), Reclaiming the local in language policy and practice (pp. 167–196). Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.

    Google Scholar 

  • Block, D. (2007). Second language identities. London: Continuum.

    Google Scholar 

  • Block, D. (2015). Becoming a language teacher: Constraints and negotiation in the emergence of new identities. Bellaterra Journal of Teaching & Learning Language & Literature, 8(3), 9–26.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bourdieu, P. (1977). Outline of a theory of practice (Vol. 16). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Britzman, D. (1991). Practice makes practice. Albany, NY: State University of New York Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Britzman, D. (2003). Practice makes practice: A critical study of learning to teach (Rev. ed.). Albany, NY: State University of New York Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bucholtz, M., & Hall, K. (2005). Identity and interaction: A sociocultural linguistic approach. Discourse Studies, 7(4–5), 585–614.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bullough, J. R. V., Knowles, J. G., & Grow, N. A. (1992). Emerging as a teacher. London: Routledge.

    Google Scholar 

  • Canagarajah, S. (2007). The ecology of global English. International Multilingual Research Journal, 1(2), 89–100.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Clandinin, D. J., Downey, C. A., & Huber, J. (2009). Attending to changing landscapes: Shaping the interwoven identities of teachers and teacher educators. Asia-Pacific Journal of Teacher Education, 37(2), 141–154.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Clarke, M. (2008). Language teacher identities: Co-constructing discourse and community. Clevedon: Multilingual Matters.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Clarke, M., & Morgan, B. (2011). Education and social justice in neoliberal times: Historical and pedagogical perspectives from two postcolonial contexts. In M. R. Hawkins (Ed.), Social justice language teacher education (pp. 63–85). Bristol: Multilingual Matters.

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Coté, J. (2006). Identity studies: How close are we to developing a social science of identity?—An appraisal of the field. Identity: An International Journal of Theory and Research, 6(1), 3–25.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Dang, T. K. A. (2013). Identity in activity: Examining teacher professional identity formation in the paired-placement of student teachers. Teaching and Teacher Education, 30, 47–59.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Darvin, R., & Norton, B. (2015). Identity and a model of investment in applied linguistics. Annual Review of Applied Linguistics, 35, 36–56.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • De Costa, P., & Norton, B. (2017). Introduction: Identity, transdisciplinarity, and the good language teacher. The Modern Language Journal, 101, 3–14.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • De Mejia, A.-M. (2002). Power, prestige, and bilingualism: International perspectives on elite bilingual education. Buffalo, NY: Multilingual Matters.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Duff, P., & Uchida, Y. (1997). The negotiation of teachers’ sociocultural identities and practices in postsecondary EFL classrooms. TESOL Quarterly, 31(3), 451–486.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Duff, P. A. (2012). Identity, agency, and second language acquisition. In S. M. Gass & A. Mackey (Eds.), The Routledge handbook of second language acquisition (pp. 410–426). Abingdon: Routledge.

    Google Scholar 

  • Edwards, E., & Burns, A. (2016). Language teacher-researcher identity negotiation: An ecological perspective. TESOL Quarterly, 50(3), 735–745.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ellis, E. M. (2004). The invisible multilingual teacher. International Journal of Multilingualism, 1(2), 90–108.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ellis, E. M. (2013). The TESOL teacher as plurilingual: An Australian perspective. TESOL Quarterly, 47(3), 446–471.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ellis, E. M. (2016). “I may be a native speaker but I’m not monolingual”: Reimagining All teachers’ linguistic identities in TESOL. TESOL Quarterly, 50, 597–630. https://doi.org/10.1002/tesq.314

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ellis, L. (2002). Teaching from experience: A new perspective on the non-native teacher in adult ESL. Australian Review of Applied Linguistics, 25(1), 70–107.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Farrell, T. S. C., & Richards, J. (2007). Teachers’ language proficiency. In T. S. Farrell (Ed.), Reflective language teaching: From research to practice (pp. 55–66). London: Continuum.

    Google Scholar 

  • Firth, A., & Wagner, J. (1997). On discourse, communication, and (some) fundamental concepts in SLA research. Modern Language Journal, 81, 285–300.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Golombek, P. R., & Doran, M. (2014). Unifying cognition, emotion, and activity in language teacher professional development. Teaching and Teacher Education, 39, 102–111. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tate.2014.01.002

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gray, J., & Morton, T. (2018). Social interaction and teacher identity. Edinburgh University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hall, S. (1992). The question of cultural identity. In S. Hall, D. Held, & T. McGrew (Eds.), Modernity and its futures (pp. 274–316). Cambridge: Polity Press and Blackwell and The Open University.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hargreaves, A. (2000). Four ages of professionalism and professional learning. Teachers and Teaching: Theory and Practice, 6(2), 151–182.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hargreaves, A. (2005). Educational change takes ages: Life, career and generational factors in teachers’ emotional responses to educational change. Teaching and Teacher Education, 21, 967–983.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hu, G. (2005). ‘CLT is best for China’—An untenable absolutist claim. ELT Journal, 59(1), 65–68. https://doi.org/10.1093/elt/cci009

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Johnson, K. (2001). An introduction to foreign language learning and teaching. Pearson Education.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kamhi-Stein, L. D. (Ed.). (2013). Narrating their lives: Examining English language teachers’ professional identities within the classroom. Ann Arbor, MI: University of Michigan Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kanno, Y., & Norton, B. (2003). Imagined communities and educational possibilities: Introduction. Journal of Language, Identity, and Education, 2(4), 241–249.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kanno, Y., & Stuart, C. (2011). Learning to become a second language teacher: Identities-in-practice. The Modern Language Journal, 95(2), 236–252.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kubanyiova, M. (2012). Teacher development in action: Understanding language teachers’ conceptual change. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Lai, C., Li, Z., & Gong, Y. (2016). Teacher agency and professional learning in cross-cultural teaching contexts: Accounts of Chinese teachers from international schools in Hong Kong. Teaching and Teacher Education, 54, 12–21.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Leung, C. (2005). Convivial communication: Recontextualizing communicative competence. International Journal of Applied Linguistics, 15, 199–144. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1473-4192.2005.00084.x

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Li, L. (2012). Belief construction and development: Two tales of non-native English speaking student teachers in a TESOL programme. Novitas-ROYAL (Research on Youth and Language), 6(1), 33–58.

    Google Scholar 

  • Li, L. (2017a). Social interaction and teacher cognition. Edinburgh University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Mayer, D. (1999). Building teaching identities: Implications for pre-service teacher education. Paper presented to the Australian Association for Research in Education.

    Google Scholar 

  • McAlpine, L., Amundsen, C., & Turner, G. (2014). Identity-trajectory: Reframing early career academic experience. British Educational Research Journal, 40(6), 952–969.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Miller, E. R. (2014). The language of adult immigrants: Agency in the making. Bristol: Multilingual Matters.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Miller, J. (2009). Teacher identity. In A. Burns & J. C. Richards (Eds.), The Cambridge guide to second language teacher education (pp. 172–181). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Morgan, B. (2016). Language teacher identity and the domestication of dissent: An exploratory account. TESOL Quarterly, 50(3), 708–734.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Motha, S., Jain, R., & Tecle, T. (2012). Translinguistic identity-as-pedagogy: Implications for language teacher education. International Journal of Innovation in English Language Teaching and Research, 1(1), 13–28.

    Google Scholar 

  • Moussu, L., & Llurda, E. (2008). Non-native English-speaking English language teachers: History and research. Language Teaching, 41(3), 315–348.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Murdoch, G. (1994). Language development provision in teacher training curricula. ELT Journal, 48, 253–259.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Nagatomo, D. (2012). Exploring Japanese University English teachers’ professional identity. Clevedon: Multilingual Matters.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Norton, B. (2000). Identity and language learning: Extending the conversation. Bristol: Multilingual Matters.

    Google Scholar 

  • Norton, B. (2013). Identity and language learning: Extending the conversation (2nd ed.). Bristol: Multilingual Matters.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Norton Pierce, B. (1995). Social identity, investment, and language learning. TESOL Quarterly, 29(1), 9–31.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Olsen, B. (2011). ‘I am large, I contain multitudes’: Teacher identity as a useful frame for research, practice, and diversity in teacher education. In A. Ball & C. Tyson (Eds.), Studying diversity in teacher education (pp. 267–273). Washington, DC: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ortega, L. (2014). Ways forward for a bi/multilingual turn in SLA. In S. May (Ed.), The multilingual turn: Implications for SLA, TESOL and bilingual education (pp. 32–53). New York: Routledge.

    Google Scholar 

  • Park, G. (2012). ‘I am never afraid of being recognized as an NNES’: One teacher’s journey in claiming and embracing her nonnative-speaker identity. TESOL Quarterly, 46(1), 127–151.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Pavlenko, A. (2003). ‘I never knew I was a bilingual’: Reimagining teacher identities in TESOL. Journal of Language, Identity, and Education, 2(4), 251–268.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Pennington, M., & Richards, J. C. (2016). Teacher identity in language teaching: Integrating personal, contextual, and professional factors. RELC Journal, 47(1), 5–23.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Reagan, T. (2004). Objectification, positivism and language studies: A reconsideration. Critical Inquiry in Language Studies, 1(1), 41–60.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Reis, D. S. (2011). Non-native English-speaking teachers (NNESTs) and professional legitimacy: A sociocultural theoretical perspective on identity transformation. International Journal of Sociology of Language, 208, 139–160.

    Google Scholar 

  • Richards, K. (2006). ‘Being the teacher’: Identity and classroom conversation. Applied Linguistics, 27, 51–77.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Shin, S. J. (2008). Preparing non-native English-speaking ESL teachers. Teacher Development, 12(1), 57–65.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Singh, G., & Richards, J. C. (2006). Teaching and learning in the language teacher education course room: A critical sociocultural perspective. RELC Journal, 37(2), 149–175.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sun, D. (2012). “Everything goes smoothly”: A case study of an immigrant Chinese language teacher’s personal practical knowledge. Teaching and Teacher Education, 28(5), 760–767.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Swain, M., & Lapkin, S. (2005). The evolving sociopolitical context of immersion education in Canada: Some implications for program development. International Journal of Applied Linguistics, 15(2), 169–186.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Terasaki, A. (2005). Pre-announcement sequences in conversation. In G. Lerner (Ed.), Conversation analysis: Studies from the first generation (pp. 171–224). Amsterdam: John Benjamins.

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Toom, A., Pyhältö, K., & Rust, F. O. C. (2015). Teachers’ professional agency in contradictory times. Teachers and Teaching: Theory and Practice, 21(6), 615–623.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Tsui, A. A. M. (2003). Understanding expertise in teaching. New York: Cambridge University Press.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Tsui, A. B. M. (2007). Complexities of identity formation: A narrative inquiry of an EFL teacher. TESOL Quarterly, 41, 657–680.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Vähäsantanen, K. (2015). Professional agency in the stream of change: Understanding educational change and teachers’ professional identities. Teaching and Teacher Education, 47, 1–12.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • van Lier, L. (2004). The ecology and semiotics of language learning: A sociocultural perspective. Dordrecht, The Netherlands: Kluwer.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Varghese, M., Morgan, B., Johnson, B., & Johnson, K. A. (2005). Theorizing language teacher identity: Three perspectives and beyond. Journal of Language, Identity, and Education, 4(1), 21–44.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Varghese, M. M., Motha, S., Park, G., Reeves, J., & Trent, J. (2016). In this issue. TESOL Quarterly, 50(3), 545–571.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Warford, M. K., & Reeves, J. (2003). Falling into it: Novice TESOL teacher thinking. Teachers and Teaching, 9(1), 47–65.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wenger, E. (1998). Communities of practice: Learning, meaning, and identity. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Zembylas, M. (2003). Interrogating “teacher identity”: Emotion, resistance and self-formation. Educational Theory, 53, 107–127.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Zembylas, M. (2005). Beyond teacher cognition and teacher beliefs: The value of the ethnography of emotions in teaching. International Journal of Qualitative Studies in Education, 18(4), 465–487.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Zembylas, M. (2007). Emotional ecology: The intersection of emotional knowledge and pedagogical content knowledge in teaching. Teaching and Teacher Education, 23(4), 355–367.

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Li Li .

Copyright information

© 2020 The Author(s)

About this chapter

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this chapter

Li, L. (2020). Teacher Cognition and Identity. In: Language Teacher Cognition. Palgrave Macmillan, London. https://doi.org/10.1057/978-1-137-51134-8_8

Download citation

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1057/978-1-137-51134-8_8

  • Published:

  • Publisher Name: Palgrave Macmillan, London

  • Print ISBN: 978-1-137-51133-1

  • Online ISBN: 978-1-137-51134-8

  • eBook Packages: Social SciencesSocial Sciences (R0)

Publish with us

Policies and ethics