Criticality, Agency, and Language Teacher Identities
Research and Praxis from Global Teacher Education
Published on 18. September 2025
Book
Hardback
216 pages
978-1-350-51384-6 (ISBN)
Description
This book interrogates language teacher identity construction, negotiation, and meaning-making in today's ever-changing global contexts.
By exploring language teacher identity through a critical lens and drawing on insights from language teachers and language teacher educators, it provides a deep understanding of how identity construction unfolds and transforms teaching practices.
Its chapters use a wide range of methodologies and theoretical perspectives, including World Englishes, raciolinguistics, postcolonial theory and auto-ethnography. This wealth of international case studies moves beyond simply contrasting native and non-native speaking teachers to instead highlight their intersectional identities. This approach foregrounds and problematizes the power imbalances woven into language teaching and teacher education, documenting ways in which language teachers can advocate for themselves, their profession, students, families, and their communities. It also suggests ways of sharing innovative critical approaches at the intersection of LTI, agency, and today's complex socio-political and socio-historical contexts.
By exploring language teacher identity through a critical lens and drawing on insights from language teachers and language teacher educators, it provides a deep understanding of how identity construction unfolds and transforms teaching practices.
Its chapters use a wide range of methodologies and theoretical perspectives, including World Englishes, raciolinguistics, postcolonial theory and auto-ethnography. This wealth of international case studies moves beyond simply contrasting native and non-native speaking teachers to instead highlight their intersectional identities. This approach foregrounds and problematizes the power imbalances woven into language teaching and teacher education, documenting ways in which language teachers can advocate for themselves, their profession, students, families, and their communities. It also suggests ways of sharing innovative critical approaches at the intersection of LTI, agency, and today's complex socio-political and socio-historical contexts.
Reviews / Votes
'This volume represents the labour of love of the editors and authors, whose work promises to inform and empower language teachers, teacher educators, and researchers globally.' * Shuzhan Li, Ithaca College, US *More details
Series
Language
English
Place of publication
London
United Kingdom
Publishing group
Bloomsbury Publishing PLC
Target group
Professional and scholarly
Illustrations
30 bw illus
Dimensions
Height: 240 mm
Width: 161 mm
Thickness: 16 mm
Weight
487 gr
ISBN-13
978-1-350-51384-6 (9781350513846)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Persons
Hyunjin Jinna Kim is Assistant Professor of TESOL in the Department of Special Education and Literacy Studies at Western Michigan University, USA.
Huseyin Uysal is Research Assistant Professor in the Department of English Language Education at The Education University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong.
Huseyin Uysal is Research Assistant Professor in the Department of English Language Education at The Education University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong.
Content
Series Editor Foreword
List of Figures
List of Tables
Foreword, Ryuko Kubota (University of British Columbia, Canada)
Acknowledgments
List of Contributors
Introduction: Intersection of Criticality, Agency, and Language Teacher Identities in Global Language Teacher Education, Hyunjin Jinna Kim (Western Michigan University, USA) and Huseyin Uysal (Education University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong)
Part I: Language Teacher Identities and Advocacy for the Profession
2. Developing Teacher Agency for Professional Development: A Case Study of Secondary Level EL Teachers in Bangladesh, Md. Abdur Rouf (Jagannath University, Bangladesh) and Shaila Sultana (University of Dhaka, Bangladesh)
3. Language Teacher Identity and Agency Informing Teaching Practice: Empowering Culturally and Linguistically Diverse Learners in Adult ESL, Anna Sanczyk-Cruz (University of Bialystok, Poland) and Elizabeth R. Miller (University of North Carolina at Charlotte, USA)
4. Resigency: Critical Conceptualization of the Complexity of Resilience and Agency among Language Teachers, Mostafa Nazari (Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Hong Kong)
PART I Commentary: Language Teacher Identities and Advocacy for the Profession by Elizabeth R. Miller
Part II: Language Teacher Identities and Advocacy for Challenging Social Inequities
5. Empowering Non-Native English Teachers by Advocating for Emotional Resistance Against Inequalities, Juyoung Song (Murray State University, USA)
6. Global Englishes: Counteracting Internationalized English Superiority, Challenging Problematic Identities, and (Re)Negotiating Agency, Min Wang (Houghton University, USA), Sender Dovchin (Curtin University, Australia), Hui Li (Shanghai University, China), and Shuangshuang Xu (Wenzhou-Kean University)
7. Reflections on Language Teacher Identity Development through Decolonizing Language Ideologies in Race-Based Caucusing Spaces, Hsin-Jung Li, Claudia Gutierrez, Camille Ungco and Manka M. Varghese (University of Washington, USA)
PART II Commentary: Language Teacher Identities and Advocacy for Challenging Social Inequities by Sender Dovchin
8. Empowering Voices for Agency, Advocacy, and Equity in Language Teaching and Teacher Education: Some Concluding Remarks, Hayriye Kayi-Aydar (University of Arizona, USA)
Index
List of Figures
List of Tables
Foreword, Ryuko Kubota (University of British Columbia, Canada)
Acknowledgments
List of Contributors
Introduction: Intersection of Criticality, Agency, and Language Teacher Identities in Global Language Teacher Education, Hyunjin Jinna Kim (Western Michigan University, USA) and Huseyin Uysal (Education University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong)
Part I: Language Teacher Identities and Advocacy for the Profession
2. Developing Teacher Agency for Professional Development: A Case Study of Secondary Level EL Teachers in Bangladesh, Md. Abdur Rouf (Jagannath University, Bangladesh) and Shaila Sultana (University of Dhaka, Bangladesh)
3. Language Teacher Identity and Agency Informing Teaching Practice: Empowering Culturally and Linguistically Diverse Learners in Adult ESL, Anna Sanczyk-Cruz (University of Bialystok, Poland) and Elizabeth R. Miller (University of North Carolina at Charlotte, USA)
4. Resigency: Critical Conceptualization of the Complexity of Resilience and Agency among Language Teachers, Mostafa Nazari (Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Hong Kong)
PART I Commentary: Language Teacher Identities and Advocacy for the Profession by Elizabeth R. Miller
Part II: Language Teacher Identities and Advocacy for Challenging Social Inequities
5. Empowering Non-Native English Teachers by Advocating for Emotional Resistance Against Inequalities, Juyoung Song (Murray State University, USA)
6. Global Englishes: Counteracting Internationalized English Superiority, Challenging Problematic Identities, and (Re)Negotiating Agency, Min Wang (Houghton University, USA), Sender Dovchin (Curtin University, Australia), Hui Li (Shanghai University, China), and Shuangshuang Xu (Wenzhou-Kean University)
7. Reflections on Language Teacher Identity Development through Decolonizing Language Ideologies in Race-Based Caucusing Spaces, Hsin-Jung Li, Claudia Gutierrez, Camille Ungco and Manka M. Varghese (University of Washington, USA)
PART II Commentary: Language Teacher Identities and Advocacy for Challenging Social Inequities by Sender Dovchin
8. Empowering Voices for Agency, Advocacy, and Equity in Language Teaching and Teacher Education: Some Concluding Remarks, Hayriye Kayi-Aydar (University of Arizona, USA)
Index