En route to becoming researcher-teachers? Chinese university EFL teachers’ boundary crossing in professional doctoral programs

Drawing upon the theoretical framework of learning and identity work through boundary crossing, this study examined how Chinese university English-as-a-foreign-language (EFL) teachers negotiated their researcher-teacher identities through attending professional doctoral programs in education and applied linguistics. Adopting a case study design, data were collected through narrative frames and follow-up interviews with eight participants, with journal entries and other documents drawn on as additional data. Analysis of the data revealed four distinctive trajectories of identity development: from intuitive teacher to rigorous teacher, from passive follower to critical inquirer, from idealistic researcher-teacher to qualified researcher first, and from EFL teacher to EFL academic. In general, while boundary crossing in professional doctoral programs facilitated the participants' progression towards a researcher-teacher identity, the construction of the teaching-research nexus in the participants' professional work followed a non-linear route and took variegated forms. The study thus yielded insights into the complexities of teachers’ navigation of the teaching-research nexus through doctoral education. Based on the findings, research-mindset-informed practice is proposed as an alternative approach to the teaching-research nexus that complements previous approaches such as evidence-based practice and practice-based research.