TEACHER IDENTITY AND AGENCY IN INTEGRATING MORAL EDUCATION INTO COLLEGE-LEVEL ENGLISH INSTRUCTION IN CHINA
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.55197/qjssh.v7i4.1259Keywords:
teacher agency, professional identity, moral education, college-level English instruction, Language Policy and Planning (LPP)Abstract
This review explores the evolving theoretical and empirical landscape of teacher agency and professional identity within the context of Language Policy and Planning (LPP). As scholarship in LPP undergoes a significant human turn, the focus has shifted from state-led structuralism toward a critical, ecological perspective that recognises teachers as primary policy arbiters. In the specific context of China’s Integrating Moral Education into College-level English Instruction (IMECEI) mandate, this transition necessitates a fundamental role reconstruction for educators from linguistic facilitators to moral guides. By synthesising contemporary research, this review identifies a persistent bifurcation between macro-policy deconstruction and micro-pedagogical description, which often overlooks the complex, lived experiences of practitioners. The findings highlight the profound discursive tensions, emotional shocks, and the curatorial burden teachers face while navigating Chinese cultural aphasia and the broader Global South struggle for cultural sovereignty. Ultimately, this review points to significant theoretical and methodological lacunae, calling for future scholarship to adopt more integrated, multidimensional perspectives to understand how identity and agency are achieved in high-stakes ideological landscapes.
References
[1] Ai, B. (2023): Coordination and conflict: A study on the implementation space of college English curriculum reform. – Journal of Language and Education 12p.
[2] Alexander, N. (1989): Language policy and national unity in South Africa/Azania. – Buchu Books 92p.
[3] Alexander, N. (1992): Language planning from below. – In: Herbert, R.K. (ed.) Language and society in Africa: The Theory and Practice of Sociolinguistics, Witwatersrand University Press 7p.
[4] Baldauf, R.B., Jr. (2006): Rearticulating the case for micro language planning in a language ecology context. – Current Issues in Language Planning 7(2-3): 147-170.
[5] Ball, S.J., Maguire, M., Braun, A. (2012): How schools do policy: Policy enactments in secondary schools. – Routledge 192p.
[6] Bonacina-Pugh, F. (2012): Researching ‘practised language policies’: Insights from conversation analysis. – Language Policy 11(3): 213-234.
[7] Bonacina-Pugh, F. (2020): Legitimising multilingual practices in the classroom: The role of the ‘practised language policy’. – International Journal of Bilingual Education and Bilingualism 23(4): 434-448.
[8] Cai, J.G. (2021): Rethinking the orientation of college English teaching in China under the new liberal arts background. – Journal of Foreign Languages 10p.
[9] Chen, X. (2013): Cultural deficiency and compensation in college English textbooks. – Journal of Teaching and Management 3p.
[10] Chen, Y. (2021): A study on the factors influencing university EFL teacher agency in the context of curriculum reform. – Doctoral dissertation, Central China Normal University, CNKI 180p.
[11] Cheng, X., Wei, H. (2019): The integration of key competencies into college English teaching. – Foreign Language Teaching in Schools 42(1): 7p.
[12] Cong, C. (2000): “Chinese cultural aphasia”: A deficiency in English teaching in China. – Guangming Daily 1p.
[13] Cong-Lem, N. (2021): Teacher agency for educational change: A review of literature. – Journal of Practical Studies in Education 2(6): 13p.
[14] Cooper, R.L. (1984): The avoidance of androcentricity in Polish. – International Journal of the Sociology of Language 50: 11-18.
[15] Das Gupta, J. (1977a): Language associations in India. – In: Rubin, J., Jernudd, B.H., Das Gupta, J., Fishman, J.A., Ferguson, C.A. (eds.) Language Planning Processes, Mouton 13p.
[16] Das Gupta, J. (1977b): Government agencies for language planning in India. – In: Rubin, J., Jernudd, B.H., Das Gupta, J., Fishman, J.A., Ferguson, C.A. (eds.) Language Planning Processes, Mouton 10p.
[17] Emirbayer, M., Mische, A. (1998): What is agency? – American Journal of Sociology 103(4): 962-1023.
[18] Fan, S. (2012): The reconstruction of teacher identity in the context of ideological security. – Journal of Higher Education 6p.
[19] Fellman, J. (1974): The Academy of the Hebrew Language: Its history, structure and function. – International Journal of the Sociology of Language 1: 95-103.
[20] Fellman, J., Fishman, J.A. (1977): Language planning in Israel: The Academy of the Hebrew Language. – In: Rubin, J. et al. (eds.) Language Planning Processes, Mouton 17p.
[21] Fishman, J.A. (1993): The earliest stage of language planning: The “first congress” phenomenon. – Mouton de Gruyter 160p.
[22] Fu, R., Li, S. (2013): National ideological security and foreign language education policy. – Foreign Language World 8p.
[23] Han, Y., Li, M., Xue, Y., Huang, J. (2026): The emotional labour of professional transformation: A dynamic systems analysis of teacher agency in ideological reform. – Teaching and Teacher Education 12p.
[24] Hao, Y.N. (2012): College English education policy in China: Conflicts and coordination between “tool” and “quality”. – Foreign Language World 4: 11-18.
[25] Holland, D., Lachicotte, W., Skinner, D., Cain, C. (1998): Identity and agency in cultural worlds. – Harvard University Press 366p.
[26] Jernudd, B.H. (1977): Linguistic sources for terminological innovation: Policy and opinion. – In: Rubin, J. et al. (eds.) Language Planning Processes, Mouton 21p.
[27] Jiang, L. (2023): Identity crisis and reconstruction of university EFL teachers under the “Curriculum Ideological and Political Education” reform. – Foreign Language Education 44(2): 55-61.
[28] Johnson, D.C. (2013): Language policy. – Palgrave Macmillan 291p.
[29] Kaplan, R.B., Baldauf, R.B., Jr. (1997): Language planning: From practice to theory. – Multilingual Matters 403p.
[30] Li, M. (2016): A critical discourse analysis of cultural values in university English textbooks. – Foreign Language Research 7p.
[31] Liang, J., Li, J. (2014): From cognition to practice: An ecological analysis of teacher agency in curriculum reform. – Foreign Languages and Their Teaching 7p.
[32] Liddicoat, A.J. (2007): Language planning and policy: Issues in language planning and literacy. – Multilingual Matters 240p.
[33] Liddicoat, A.J. (2013): Language-in-education policies: The discursive construction of intercultural relations. – Multilingual Matters 254p.
[34] Liddicoat, A.J. (2020a): Introduction to language policy: Theory and method. – Wiley-Blackwell 320p.
[35] Liddicoat, A.J. (2020b): Agency in language planning and policy. – In: Liddicoat, A.J. (ed.) The Routledge International Handbook of Language Education Policy in Asia, Routledge 16p.
[36] Liddicoat, A.J., Taylor-Leech, K. (2020): Agency and themes in language planning and policy. – Current Issues in Language Planning 22(1-2): 1-18.
[37] Liu, H., Wang, Q., Zhao, W. (2020): Exploring the constraints of teacher agency in the context of top-down curriculum reform. – Foreign Language Education in China 3(2): 15-23.
[38] Liu, Y. (2019): The historical evolution of university English teacher identity in China: From language experts to intercultural mediators. – Journal of Multilingual and Multicultural Development 14p.
[39] Liu, Y. (2025): Professional histories and ideological commitments: An ecological narrative inquiry of experienced EFL teachers. – System 12p.
[40] Lo Bianco, J. (2005): Language planning and student experiences: Intention, rhetoric and implementation. – Language Australia 180p.
[41] Menken, K., García, O. (eds.) (2010): Negotiating language policies in schools: Educators as policymakers. – Routledge 296p.
[42] Merriman, P., Jones, R. (2009): ‘Symbols of justice’: The Welsh Language Society’s campaign for bilingual road signs in Wales, 1967-1980. – Journal of Historical Geography 35(2): 350-375.
[43] Park, J.S.Y. (2009): The local construction of a global language: Ideologies of English in South Korea. – Mouton de Gruyter 285p.
[44] Pennycook, A. (1994): The cultural politics of English as an international language. – Longman 365p.
[45] Phillipson, R. (1992): Linguistic imperialism. – Oxford University Press 365p.
[46] Rizvi, F., Lingard, B. (2010): Globalising education policy. – Routledge 240p.
[47] Priestley, M., Biesta, G., Robinson, S. (2015): Teacher agency: An ecological approach. – Bloomsbury Publishing 192p.
[48] Imam, S.R. (2005): English as a global language and the question of culture, conditioning and decolonising the mind. – Current Issues in Language Planning 6(4): 456-471.
[49] Ricento, T. (ed.) (2015): Language policy and political economy: English in a global context. – Oxford University Press 336p.
[50] Rubin, J. (1977): Institutionalised language planning and determinative views of programming. – In: Rubin, J. et al. (eds.) Language Planning Processes, Mouton 15p.
[51] Shohamy, E. (2006): Language policy: Hidden agendas and new approaches. – Routledge 208p.
[52] Silver, R.E., Skuja-Steele, R. (2005): Priorities, programs and perceptions of school-based English language education. – Language Policy 4(3): 297-320.
[53] Spolsky, B. (2009): Language management. – Cambridge University Press 308p.
[54] Spolsky, B. (2004): Language policy. – Cambridge University Press 250p.
[55] Tang, J. (2022): A study on university English teachers’ agency in the context of “Curriculum Ideological and Political Education”. – Journal of Higher Education Research 9p.
[56] Tollefson, J.W. (1991): Planning language, planning inequality: Language policy in the community. – Longman 234p.
[57] Varghese, M., Morgan, B., Johnston, B., Johnson, K.A. (2005): Theorising language teacher identity: Three perspectives and beyond. – Journal of Language, Identity, and Education 4(1): 21-44.
[58] Wang, S.R. (2002): On the revision of the College English Syllabus and the direction of college English teaching reform. – Foreign Language World 5: 2-7.
[59] Wang, Z. (2014): Self-culture orientation in college English teaching. – Foreign Language Education 6p.
[60] Weng, X. (2025): From compliance to enactment: An autoethnographic study of professional agency development. – Language Teaching Research 15p.
[61] Xu, J.F. (2018): Activity theory-based research on teacher agency in college English instructional reform. – Foreign Language Learning Theory and Practice 1: 44-52.
[62] Xu, J.F. (2025): The continuum of authority, agency, and vulnerability in critical language teaching. – Modern Foreign Languages 12p.
[63] Yin, L. (2020): Teachers’ curatorial role and discursive guiding strategies in “Curriculum Ideological and Political Education”. – Journal of Foreign Languages 9p.
[64] Yip, J.W., Huang, J., Teng, M.F. (2022): Identity, emotion and critical agency in self-marginalised English language teachers during curriculum reform. – Journal of Education for Teaching 48(4): 438-454.
[65] Zhang, L., Wu, X., Zhang, Y. (2025): Systemic dysfunction and teacher agency in the IMEC reform: An ecological perspective. – Language Policy and Planning 14p.
[66] Zhang, W. (2021): National language planning and the strategic transformation of foreign language education in the New Era. – Foreign Language Education 8p.
[67] Zhu, G. (2023): The reciprocal relationship between teacher agency and professional identity in educational reform. – Asia-Pacific Journal of Teacher Education 15p.
Downloads
Published
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2026 WEIQING LIU, JEANNET STEPHEN, HUIFANG SUN
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
