A narrative inquiry of identity construction in academic communities of practice: voices from a Chinese doctoral student in Hong Kong

ABSTRACT

Viewed through the lens of narrative inquiry, this study explored the doctoral experiences of a language teacher educator and examined how he constructed and reconstructed his identities through learning and research experiences in the higher education environment of Hong Kong. Grounded in the notions of “communities of practice” while using “identity” as an analytic lens, the present study examined how a doctoral student negotiated his participation and membership in his situated academic community. The case study provides in-depth understanding of major challenges for a doctoral student to negotiate competence, identities, and power relations in the academic community. These dimensions were vital to gain recognition as a legitimate old-timer in an academic community. A sense of agency was necessary to cross boundaries and shape his own learning and participation in the academic community. However, identity construction is complex in nature, influenced not only by situated experiences within an institutional setting, but also a broader societal academic community. Pedagogical implications for doctoral education were discussed.

KEYWORDS:

• Communities of practice
• doctoral education
• identity
• narrative inquiry

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

(Mark) Feng Teng

(Mark) Feng Teng is a language teacher educator with extensive teaching and research experience in China. He is a Ph.D. candidate at Hong Kong Baptist University. His main research interests include metacognition and writing, vocabulary, and identity research. His latest publications appeared in TESOL Quarterly, Language Teaching Research, Applied Linguistics Review, CALL, and other international flagship journals. His recent monographs appeared in Springer and Bloomsbury.