Joint development of teacher cognition and identity through learning to teach L2 pronunciation

The constructs of teacher cognition and teacher identity have recently gained considerable attention in

second language teacher education research for their crucial roles in understanding teacher learning.

While a number of current studies have examined the contributions of both constructs, the connections

between cognition and identity are yet to be fully conceptualized. This article addresses this gap

by drawing on the notion of identification to examine the identity construction and cognition development

of 15 student teachers in the context of a postgraduate course on pronunciation pedagogy.

Questionnaires, focus group interviews, observations, and semi-structured interviews were triangulated

to obtain an in-depth understanding of the complex relations between identity formation and cognition

growth. Findings revealed that identity construction—manifested through imagination of self and

others, engagement and investment in the course, and alignment with course content—not only had a

profound impact on participants’ cognition development, but that these two constructs were intertwined

in a complex and reciprocal relationship, fostering the process of student teachers’ learning to teach

pronunciation.