When teaching and research are misaligned: Unraveling a university EFL teacher's identity tensions and renegotiations

Abstract

This study investigates the identity construction of a university EFL teacher in China through narrative inquiry in ethnography, probing into the tensions she experienced as a teaching-focused academic as well as her renegotiations of her professional self in face of these tensions. Narrative data were collected through in-depth interviews and informal communications with the participant while contextual data were collected through prolonged fieldwork. Through thematic analysis and constructing storylines in relation to the identified themes, the participant's identity experience is mapped out in three story constellations, namely, identity tensions, identity relinquishment and reinterpretation and identification beyond the institution, through which the participant developed her identity as an academic outcast, an ace coach and an expert. The constructions of these identities are mutually informing and reveal an alternative trajectory of professional development, in which boundary-crossing between the academic and non-academic communities becomes a transforming space. By delving into the intricacies of the participant's professional stories within the contextual dynamics, the study reveals the complexities of the teaching-research misalignment in the unique context of tertiary EFL education in China and provides new insights into the maintenance of academic identities in times of policy shifts and contextual challenges.