Case study methodology has long been a contested terrain in social sciences research which is characterized by varying, sometimes opposing, approaches espoused by many research methodologists. Despite being one of the most frequently used qualitative research methodologies in educational research, the methodologists do not have a full consensus on the design and implementation of case study, which hampers its full evolution. Focusing on the landmark works of three prominent methodologists, namely Robert Yin, Sharan Merriam, Robert Stake, I attempt to scrutinize the areas where their perspectives diverge, converge and complement one another in varying dimensions of case study research. I aim to help the emerging researchers in the field of education familiarize themselves with the diverse views regarding case study that lead to a vast array of techniques and strategies, out of which they can come up with a combined perspective which best serves their research purpose.

Recent work on the theorization and exploration of language teacher identity contends that teacher education practices should focus on teacher identity as an explicit focus, yet little is known regarding how teacher identity can be integrated in TESOL teacher education. This article describes a teacher learning tool called critical autoethnographic narrative that can be utilized to promote identity‐oriented TESOL teacher preparation. Theoretically, the design of this tool relies on the earlier work on critical language teacher education (Hawkins & Norton, ), autoethnography as an account of identity development (Canagarajah, ), narrative as a teacher learning tool (Johnson & Golombek, ), and narrative as identity construction (Barkhuizen, ). As a program‐wide endeavor, critical autoethnographic narrative requires teacher candidates’ ongoing engagement with their narrative account through coursework and internship by attempting to deconstruct the dominant discourses with teacher educators’ feedback. Acknowledging TESOL teachers as knowledge generators, such endeavors also encourages teacher candidates to make contributions to scholarly publications with their narratives. The article closes with the description of possible challenges for teacher educators.

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This study examines the use of autoethnography as a teacher learning activity in a graduate-level Linguistic for Classroom Teachers course to provide teacher candidates (TCs) with a discursive and experiential space to engage in narrative identity work. Designed as a semester-long critical autoethnographic narrative (CAN), this teacher learning activity included language ideologies as a conceptual lens to guide six teacher candidates' analysis of their experiences learning, using, and teaching languages. This study focuses on one of six TCs, Sara, as an information-rich case selected with intensity sampling, and examines how she approaches and analyzes language ideologies and identity positions in her CAN. It specifically addresses the following research question: How does Sara make sense of language ideologies and identity positions as she recounts and examines the stories in her autoethnography? To answer this question, the author analyzes the following CAN components as data: four installments, one-on-one feedback sessions, discussion board posts, concept map of CAN, pair work of rubric co-construction, and CAN presentation. The findings demonstrate that in her CAN assignment, Sara discusses valorization and hierarchization in language ideologies, explores border patrolling and identity positioning in language ideologies, and destabilizes ideological binaries as she constructs her teacher identity through narrative.

Language teacher identity (LTI) has recently become a prominent theme in the second language teacher education (SLTE) research because teacher identities play a major role in teachers’ learning-to-teach processes and instructional practices. Teacher identity refers to teachers’ dynamic self-conception and imagination of themselves as teachers, which shifts as they participate in varying communities, interact with other individuals, and position themselves (and are positioned by others) in social contexts. Therefore, it casts an influence upon a wide array of matters, ranging from how language teachers learn to perform their profession, how they practice theory and theorize their practice, how they educate their students, and how they interact and collaborate with their colleagues in their social setting. This paper offers a conceptual framework for LTI that explicates the interrelationships between teacher identity and these core constructs: teacher learning, teacher cognition, teachers’ participation in communities of practice, contextual factors, teacher biographies, and teacher emotions.