Finding voice as a writing teacher: an ecological perspective on English LX teachers’ emotions and identity development

This study investigates the emotional experiences and identity development of nine English LX writing teachers at a large public university in the United States. An ecological perspective has been adopted to explore how classroom (micro), institutional (meso), and societal (macro) factors influence these instructors’ emotions and identity development. Findings reveal that emotions such as anxiety, frustration, and self-doubt often emerged in response to linguistic insecurity, institutional mandates, and societal ideologies of native speakerism. Yet, these emotions were not merely constraining; they also served as catalysts for identity negotiation and agentive responses. Teachers drew on reflection, intercultural dialogue, and selective resistance to reframe challenges, transforming feelings of vulnerability into sources of agency. In doing so, they constructed identities as empathetic facilitators, cultural mediators, and resistant agents who asserted pedagogical autonomy. The study highlights the central role of emotion in cultivating empowered professional identities and offers implications for supporting English LX writing instructors both in their classroom practice and teacher education programmes.