Exploring L2 Teacher Identities in an Intercultural Telecollaborative Mixed-Reality Teaching Environment

Oct 15, 2026

This study investigates the identities produced by three L2 teachers of different backgrounds and experiences in an intercultural telecollaborative project integrating mixed-reality technology. Content-analysis and multimodal (inter)action analysis identify identity elements arising during their interactions. Using Darvin and Norton’s model of investment as an interpretative lens, findings reveal distinct teacher identities, pathways to becoming good teachers, and how simulated teaching supports professional agency. Interactive reflection and dialoguing reshape imagined identities and capital, while limitations remain when avatar students cannot physically move.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryResearch & Report

FormatPDF

Pages23

Reading Time58 min

AccessFree to download

Introduction

Literature Review

Research on Language Teacher Identities

calico journal (online) issn 2056–9017 Article Exploring L2 Teacher Identities in an Intercultural Telecollaborative Mixed-Reality Teaching Environment Meei-Ling Liaw 1 and Sumei Wu2 Abstract This study investigates the identities produced by three L2 teachers of different backgrounds and experiences in an intercultural telecollaborative project that integrated the use of mixed-reality technology. Content-analysis (Hoffman et al., 2011) and multimodal (inter)action analysis (Norris, 2011) were employed to identify the identity elements produced during their multimodal interactions. Using Darvin and Norton’s (2015) model of investment (MOI) as an interpretative lens, this study uncovers the different identities held by the participants, and the ways in which they aspired to become good teachers. Findings also show that mixed-reality simulated teaching provided a safe environment for exercising professional agency, thereby facilitating identity development and promoting the sense of getting there. Interactive reflection provided a site of struggle where the value of capital and imagined identities shifted. Dialoguing among the participants allowed them to reassess the value of pre-acquired capital and move to (re)imagining new teacher identities and restructuring ideological structures. Mixed-reality teaching and intercultural professional learning sensitizes the less experienced teachers to the socially and culturally complex roles required for L2 teachers. The mixed-reality simulation technology still has its limitations, mainly where classroom interaction is concerned, because the number of avatar students is small and they cannot move around physically. Keywords: telecollaboration; mixed-reality simulated teaching; teacher identity; multimodal inter(action) analysis. Affiliations 1 English Department, National Taichung University of Education, Taiwan. [email: ](email: meeilingliaw@gmail.com)[meeilingliaw@gmail.com](email: meeilingliaw@gmail.com) 2 Department of Teaching and Learning, Southern Methodist University, Dallas, Texas, USA. email: [sumeiw@mail.smu.edu](sumeiw@mail.smu.edu) calico journal vol 38.3 2021 296–318 [https://doi.org/10.1558/cj.20169](https://doi.org/10.1558/cj.20169) © 2021, equinox publishing Meei-Ling Liaw and Sumei Wu 297 1. Introduction In comparison to researching language learning identity, studying language teacher identity is a recent feat. The synthesis study conducted by Kayi-Aydar (2019) reveals that it was not until the late 1990s that scholars began to examine foreign/second language (L2) teacher identities. The foci of the studies shifted from the professional identities of non-native English-speaking teachers to language teachers’ sociocultural identities, and then to the plurality and composite nature of language teacher identities in the contexts of competing discourses and ideologies. With over 20 years of scholarly efforts, various conceptualizations have been made for researching language teacher identity. Study findings have shown that teacher identity plays a central role in the teaching profession (Kanno & Stuart, 2011; Richards, 2006; Tsui, 2007), and that understanding teacher identities can help to improve teacher education and pedagogical practices (Sarasa, 2017; Varghese et al., 2005). While research has explored various contexts and research methods, few looked into language teacher identity in online teaching contexts. Even fewer studies have looked at teacher identities through the use of mixed reality, the merging of real and virtual worlds to produce new environments and visualizations where physical and digital objects co-exist and interact in realtime, either inside or outside of telecollaboration contexts. As more and more language teaching takes place online, especially in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic and the mounting efforts to use telecollaboration involving innovative technologies for teacher professional development, we have

FAQs

What methods were used to analyze the teachers’ identity development?

The study used content-analysis and multimodal (inter)action analysis to identify identity elements produced during multimodal interactions.

How does mixed-reality simulated teaching affect teacher identity and agency?

It provides a safe environment for exercising professional agency, facilitating identity development and strengthening participants’ sense of progress.

What limitations does the mixed-reality simulation technology have in classroom interaction?

Limitations appear mainly in classroom interaction because the number of avatar students is small and they cannot move around physically.

Oct 15, 2026

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