Routledge Language Teacher Identity in TESOL: Teacher Education and Practice as Identity Work (Routledge Research in Language Education)

This volume draws on empirical evidence to explore the interplay between language teacher identity (LTI) and professional learning and instruction in the field of TESOL. In doing so, it makes a unique contribution to the field of language teacher education. By reconceptualizing teacher education, teaching, and ongoing teacher learning as a continuous, context-bound process of identity work, Language Teacher Identity in TESOL discusses how teacher identity serves as a framework for classroom practice, professional, and personal growth. Divided into five sections, the text explores key themes including narratives and writing; multimodal spaces; race, ethnicity, and language; teacher emotions; and teacher educator-researcher practices. The 15 chapters offer insight into the experiences of preservice teachers, in-service teachers, and teacher educators in global TESOL contexts including Canada, Japan, Korea, Norway, Sri Lanka, Turkey, the United Kingdom, and the United States. This text will be an ideal resource for researchers, academics, and scholars interested in furthering their knowledge of concepts grounding LTI, as well as teachers and teacher educators seeking to implement identity-oriented approaches in their own pedagogical practices. Review On the seemingly well-travelled terrain of Language Teacher Identity work, this new collection distinguishes itself in several important ways. For one, greater awareness of LTI complexities and contingencies―of alignments and intersections less considered―has been advanced through a remarkable range of geographical settings and sites of practice. The diversity and novelty of research methods and data types (dinner discussions, illustrated identity portraits, etc.) is an additional strength of this book. Perhaps most important are the innovative, identity-based pedagogies (emotional scaffolding, for example) that effectively bridge theory and practice across these insightful chapters. The editors are to be commended for bringing these contributors together in this inspiring LTI collection. Brian Morgan, Glendon College, Toronto How does the existing research base on language teacher identity (LTI) inform language teacher education practice? This question is at the heart of this edited volume. While noting the significant theoretical contributions in the LTI field, Yazan and Lindahl prod us to shift our gaze from focusing on research framework to classroom practice. What I find most attractive about Yazan and Lindahl’s work is placing the teachers and their identity work in practice at the center--a result of a dialogic relationship between researchers and classroom teachers. Ultimately, grounded in identity approach, bridging theory to practice allows teachers and researchers alike to place more emphasis on the role of reflexivity in understanding the self, the other, and the context in which learning and teaching occurs. The 15 chapters in this volume will continue to challenge what it means to promote practices of teacher identity work in the fields. Bravo to the contributors! Gloria Park, Indiana University of Pennsylvania, USA With a focus on identity in teacher education practices, Language teacher identity in TESOL: Teacher education and practice as identity work includes a wide range of theoretical constructs, innovative methodologies, and lived experiences. From intersectionality to otherization, from multiethnography to multimodality, from microaggressions to scaffolded emotions, this book is an inspiring addition to the growing language teacher identity literature. Anne Feryok, University of Otago, New Zealand As a collection of empirical research works informed by diverse conceptual frameworks, this book moves forward our discussion of teacher identity in the field of TESOL. It is a must-read for language researchers and teacher educators who are interested in understanding the complex issue of teacher identities and developing identity-o