University English Teachers’ Identity in Minority Area: A Case Study of a Trilingual Teacher in China

Teacher identity is a very hot topic attracting lots of researchers’ attention in teaching and teacher development since it treats teachers as whole persons in and across social and contexts who continually reconstruct their views of themselves in relation to others, workplace characteristics, professional purposes, and cultures of teaching. As one aspect of teacher identity, minority teachers’ identity has begun to gain great interest in this area. The present study investigates Mongolian English university teachers’ identity formation in minority area. The study addressed the following three research questions: What is the identity of Mongolian English teachers at university? How do Mongolian English teachers at university perceive their identity? What are the factors influencing their identity formation? The findings suggest that Mongolian English teacher’s identity is complex and multifaceted, which is influenced by various factors, among which the subject’s learning experiences as being a third language learner play very crucial role in constructing her identity.