We are pleased to invite contributions to a special thematic collection entitled “Examining Language Teacher Identities: Intersectionality, Tensions, Lived Experience”.
Language teacher identity, understood from a poststructuralist approach, has been variously defined in the literature, as almost every aspect of teachers’ work may affect their identities. In poststructuralist times identity is no longer viewed as innate, determined and stable, but perceived as “neither unified nor fixed” (Weedon, 1997, p. 21), discursively constructed, changing through the use of language under temporal and spatial circumstances, “dynamic, multiple, and hybrid” (Barkhuizen, 2017, p. 4).
In recent years, scholars have increasingly recognized that understanding language teachers’ identities requires not only their identification but also investigating how teachers manage and regulate their different identities over time and place. Central to this emerging perspective is the concept of intersectionality— a way of understanding and analyzing the complexity in the world, in people, and in human experiences” (Collins & Bilge, 2016), which is better known if looked upon from a number of lenses that act together and affect each other (p. 2).
Several identity theories provide the foundation for conceptualizing teacher identity work, both in general education literature (e.g., Gee’s (2000) Identity Framework; Harré’s (2012) Positioning Theory) and SLA research (e.g., Consoli’s (2022) Life Capital Framework, Werbińska (2016) 3A LTIF) to name just a few examples. Despite the existence of relevant literature, there are still gaps in showing how teacher identities are demonstrated, negotiated, institutionally mediated across teachers’ life trajectories.
In line with this objective, we invite contributions from language teaching practitioners, researchers, and educators to consider submitting original, theoretical or empirical (e.g., mixed methods, case studies, auto/ethnographies, practice-based, reflective) studies that explore various aspects of language teacher identities. Potential topics may include but are not limited to:
- Language Teacher Identity and Institutional Practices,
- Language Teacher (De)Professionalization,
- Language Teacher Belonging, Authenticity, Resilience,
- Language Teacher Identities and New Technologies (including AI),
- Language Teacher Identities and Study Abroad,
- Language Teacher Identity and Teacher Leadership,
- Language Teacher Identity and Neoliberalism (or Neonationalism) Issues,
- Language Teacher Identities and Ageism and /or Sexism,
- Native-speakerism Issues (including Accentism).
This issue will include approximately six-to-ten articles (6,000-7,000 words inclusive of references). Please submit proposals (300-500 words) by March 1, 2026 to dorota.werbinska@upsl.edu.pl.
The abstract should include: title of the study, nature of the study (e.g., empirical, theoretical, or review), rationale and theoretical background, research questions or study aims, proposed methodology or design, expected findings and significance.
As with all submissions to NEOFILOLOG Journal, this special collection of manuscripts (issue No. 67/2) will be double-blind peer-reviewed.
We will be sharing additional information with all authors once we have received the abstracts and have a list of confirmed names.
To ensure a timely publication of this special NEOFILOLOG issue (No. 67/2), the timeline below will be followed.
References
Barkhuizen, G. (2017). Language teacher identity research: An introduction. In G. Barkhuizen (Ed.), Reflections on language teacher identity research (pp. 1–11). Routledge.
Collins, P. H., & Bilge, S. (2016). Intersectionality. Polity Press.
Consoli, S. (2022). Life capital: An epistemic and methodological lens for TESOL research. TESOL Quarterly, 56(4), 1397–1409. https://doi.org/10.1002/tesq.3154
Gee, J. P. (2000). Identity as an analytic lens for research in education. Review of Research in Education, 25(1), 99–125. https://doi.org/10.3102/0091732x025001099
Harré, R. (2012). Positioning theory: Moral dimensions of social-cultural psychology. In J. Valsiner (Ed.), The Oxford Handbook of Culture and Psychology. (pp. 191–206). Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press. https://doi.org/10.1093/oxfordhb/9780195396430.002.0004
Weedon, C. (1997). Feminist practice and poststructuralist theory. Blackwell Publishing.
Werbińska, D. (2016). Language-Teacher Professional Identity: Focus on Discontinuities from the Perspective of Teacher Affiliation, Attachment and Autonomy. In C. Gkonou, S. Mercer & T. Dieter (Eds.). New Directions in Language Learning Psychology. (pp.135–157). Springer.