Cover not available

Article In: AILA Review: Online-First Articles

Selling language teacher identity on social media

Charting the diverse paths to monetization

 | The Hong Kong Polytechnic University
 | The Hong Kong Polytechnic University
This content is being prepared for publication; it may be subject to changes.
Abstract
Social media platforms host a range of free language learning content uploaded by self-styled language teachers. Like other content creators on social media, many of these language teachers seek to monetize their content. Despite growing recognition of this practice, little is known about the various monetization strategies adopted by self-styled language teachers on social media. Combining the walk-through method (Light, B., Burgess, J., & Duguay, S. (2018). The walkthrough method: An approach to the study of apps. New Media & Society, 20(3), 881–900. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar) with a multimodal perspective (Jewitt, C. (2005). Multimodality, “reading”, and “writing” for the 21st century. Discourse: Studies in the Cultural Politics of Education, 26(3), 315–331. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar; (2013). Multimodal methods for researching digital technologies. In S. Price, C. Jewitt, & B. Brown (Eds.), The SAGE handbook of digital technology research (pp. 250–265). Sage. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar), we identify and discuss the monetization avenues adopted by two self-styled language teachers on Douyin. We argue that monetization is a crucial but underexplored aspect of language-teaching content on social media. The monetization of instructional content in digital spaces prompts a range of thorny questions, including questions around pedagogical value, as well as questions about how monetization is contributing to blurring the lines between language teaching, advertising, and entertainment.
Article outline
  • Literature review
    • Technological affordances
    • Monetization
    • Monetizing visibility
  • Methodology
    • Study site
    • Douyin interface
    • Data selection
      • Teacher selection
      • Video and livestream segment selection
    • Ethics
    • Analytical approach
  • Findings
    • Profile analysis
      • John
      • Lucy
      • Brand collaboration/product endorsement
    • Livestreaming
      • Livestreaming to sell courses
      • Livestreaming on behalf of other brands
  • Discussion
  • Conclusion
  • Notes
  • Author queries
  • References
References (59)
References
Aslan, E. (2024). Bite-sized language teaching in the digital wild: Relational pedagogy and micro-celebrity English teachers on Instagram. System, 121, 103238. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Aslan, E., & Ho, W. Y. J. (2025). Projecting authenticity through nativeness: a multimodal analysis of microcelebrity English teachers’ Instagram reels. Applied Linguistics Review, 1–26. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Barrot, J. S. (2022). Social media as a language learning environment: a systematic review of the literature (2008–2019). Computer Assisted Language Learning, 35(9), 2534–2562. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Bezemer, J., & Mavers, D. (2011). Multimodal transcription as academic practice: A social semiotic perspective. International Journal of Social Research Methodology, 14(3). 191–206. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Bhatia, A. (2018). Interdiscursive performance in digital professions: The case of YouTube tutorials. Journal of Pragmatics, 124, 106–120. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Block, D. (2017). Political economy in applied linguistics research. Language Teaching, 50(1), 32–64. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Bishop, S. (2020). Algorithmic Experts: Selling Algorithmic Lore on YouTube. Social Media + Society, 6(1), 1–11. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Boonlert, J., & Savski, K. (2025). Blending Linguistic and Social Entrepreneurship on Online English Tutors’ Facebook Profiles. International Journal of Applied Linguistics. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
ByteDance. (2025a, Sep 3). About us. [URL]
. (2025b, Sep 3). ByteDance jobs. [URL]
. (2025c, Sep 3). Douyin. [URL]
Conole, G., & Dyke, M. (2004). Understanding and using technological affordances: A response to Boyle and Cook. ALT-J, 12(3), 301–308. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Chao, C. C. (2022). Being a YouTuber that language learners recognize: A study on constructing language teacher identities in social media community of practice. System, 109, 102860. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Curran, N. M. & Jenks, C. (2025). Platformization of language education. Applied Linguistics Review. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Curran, N. M., Gu, B., Zhen, L., & Jenks, C. (2025). AI and Native Speakerism: The Intersections of Technology, Language Assessment, and Linguistic Objectivity. RELC Journal. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Darvin, R. (2022). Design, resistance and the performance of identity on TikTok. Discourse, Context & Media, 46, 100591. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Davis, J. L., & Chouinard, J. B. (2016). Theorizing affordances: From request to refuse. Bulletin of Science, Technology & Society, 36(4), 241–248. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Douyin & Juliang (2020). Douyin creator ecosystem report. [URL]
Duguay, S. (2019). “Running the numbers”: Modes of microcelebrity labor in queer women’s self-representation on Instagram and Vine. Social media+ society, 5(4). Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Fan, J. (2024). In and against the platform: Navigating precarity for Instagram and Xiaohongshu (Red) influencers. New Media & Society, 1–17. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Gibson, J. J. (2014). The theory of affordances (1979). In J. J. Gieseking, W. Mangold, C. Katz, S. Low, & S. Saegert (Eds.), The people, place, and space reader (pp. 56–60). Routledge. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Ho, W. Y. J. (2025). Discursive construction of online teacher identity and legitimacy in English language teaching. Learning, Media and Technology, 50(2), 219–234. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Haynes, N., & Wang, X. (2020). Making migrant identities on social media: a tale of two neoliberal cities on the Pacific Rim. Media, Culture & Society, 42(1), 126–135. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Hou, J., & Zhang, Y. (2022). “Selling Poverty” on Kuaishou: How entrepreneurialism disciplines Chinese underclass online participation. Global Media and China, 7(3), 263–282. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Huang, Y., & Ye, W. (2023). ‘Traffic rewards’, ‘algorithmic visibility’, and ‘advertiser satisfaction’: How Chinese short-video platforms cultivate creators in stages. Convergence, 30(1), 659–682. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Jewitt, C. (2005). Multimodality, “reading”, and “writing” for the 21st century. Discourse: Studies in the Cultural Politics of Education, 26(3), 315–331. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
(2013). Multimodal methods for researching digital technologies. In S. Price, C. Jewitt, & B. Brown (Eds.), The SAGE handbook of digital technology research (pp. 250–265). Sage. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
(2017). The Routledge handbook of multimodal analysis (2nd ed.). Routledge.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Jiang, Y. (2022). The Making of Microcelebrities on Douyin: Multimodal Design and Online Identities in Informal English Instruction Videos [Doctoral Dissertation, University of South Florida]. USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations. [URL]
Khamis, S., Ang, L., & Welling, R. (2017). Self-branding, ‘micro-celebrity’ and the rise of social media influencers. Celebrity Studies, 8(2), 191–208. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Kaye, D. B. V., Chen, X., & Zeng, J. (2021). The co-evolution of two Chinese mobile short video apps: Parallel platformization of Douyin and TikTok. Mobile Media & Communication, 9(2), 229–253. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Kopf, S. (2020). “Rewarding good creators”: corporate social media discourse on monetization schemes for content creators. Social Media + Society, 6(4), Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Lee, T. K. (2025). Pop linguistics in social media: translanguaging and literacy edutainment. Discourse, Context & Media, 67, 100933. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Lee, T. K., & Li, W. (2025a). Refashioning linguistic expertise: Translanguaging TESOL in social media. Applied Linguistics, 1–15. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Lee, T. K., & Wei, L. (2025b). Carnivalesque: Staging postdigital literacy. System, 103905. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Li, H., Wang, R., & Shi, C. (2023). “Oh My God! Buy it!” Analysis on the Characteristics of Anchor’s Speech in Live Broadcast E-Commerce and Purchase Intention: A Linguistic Perspective. Sage Open, 13(3). Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Lin, J., & de Kloet, J. (2019). Platformization of the unlikely creative class: Kuaishou and Chinese digital cultural production. Social Media+ Society, 5(4), 1–12. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Liang, M. (2022). The end of social media? How data attraction model in the algorithmic media reshapes the attention economy. Media, Culture and Society, 44(6), 1110–1131. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Light, B., Burgess, J., & Duguay, S. (2018). The walkthrough method: An approach to the study of apps. New Media & Society, 20(3), 881–900. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Merriam, S. B., & Tisdell, E. J. (2015). Qualitative Research: A Guide to Design and Implementation. Wiley.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Nagy, P., & Neff, G. (2015). Imagined Affordance: Reconstructing a Keyword for Communication Theory. Social Media + Society, 1(2). Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Nejadghanbar, H., Song, J., & Hu, G. (2024). English language teachers’ emotional vulnerability in the era of self-branding on social media. TESOL Quarterly, 58(4), 1734–1760. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Nejadghanbar, H., & Song, J. (2025). English language teachers’ professionalism on social media: a sociomaterial perspective. Applied Linguistics Review. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Nejadghanbar, H., & Shaahdadi, M. (2025). English language teacher identity construction on Instagram: A looking-glass self theory perspective. System, 132, 103696. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Nejadghanbar, H., & Fotouhi, M. (2025). English language teachers’ social media branding: mapping the construction and perception of brand identities on Instagram. International Review of Applied Linguistics in Language Teaching. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Pan, L., & Zhang, D. (2024). Unveiling online identity construction: A case study of language teaching micro-celebrities on Bilibili. Digital Applied Linguistics, 1, 2278. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Quest Mobile. (2024, September 1). Annual report on China’s internet core trends. [URL]
Reinhardt, J. (2019). Social media in second and foreign language teaching and learning: Blogs, wikis, and social networking. Language Teaching, 52(1), 1–39. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Sandel, T. L., & Wang, Y. (2022). Selling intimacy online: The multi-modal discursive techniques of China’s wanghong. Discourse, Context & Media, 47, 100606. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Scolere, L., Pruchniewska, U., & Duffy, B. E. (2018). Constructing the platform-specific self-brand: The labor of social media promotion. Social Media+ Society, 4(3). Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Selvi, A. F. (2025). Teachers as influencers and personal brands on Instagram: double-tapping language ideologies in the attention economy. Applied Linguistics, 1–21. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Simpson, W. (2022). Capital, commodity, and English language teaching. Routledge. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
The Economist. (2025, September 18). Are you addicted to shopping? The Economist (Online). [URL]
Wang, J., & Curran, N. M. (2025a). Competing for views and students: The implications of platformization for online language teaching. TESOL Quarterly, 59(3), 1262–1287. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
(2025b). Self-branding and the commodification of regional identity on Douyin. Applied Linguistics Review. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Wang, S. (2025). “When pigs fly”: Resources swapping, affordable marketing, and the transformation of Douyin from short video sharing to online shopping. New Media & Society. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Wang, Y., & Feng, D. W. (2022). Identity performance and self-branding in social commerce: A multimodal content analysis of Chinese wanghong women’s video-sharing practice on TikTok. Discourse, Context & Media, 50, 100652. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Yeung, E. (2019). China Internet Report 2019. abacus, South China Morning Post. [URL]
Zhao, Z. (2021). Analysis on the “Douyin (TikTok) mania” phenomenon based on recommendation algorithms. In E3S Web of Conferences (Vol. 235, Article 03029). EDP Sciences. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Mobile Menu Logo with link to supplementary files background Layer 1 jbe-platform.quadraat-sans-bold jbe-platform.quadraat-sans-bold-dark jbe-platform.quadraat-sans-bold-light jbe-platform.quadraat-sans-bold prag Twitter_Logo_Blue