Language teachers’ identity tensions and professional practice in intercultural teaching

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.