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Part of
Language Teacher Development in Digital Contexts
Edited by Hayriye Kayi-Aydar and Jonathon Reinhardt
[Language Learning & Language Teaching 57] 2022
► pp. 91–114

Chapter 5
Discursive construction of collective identity in a global online community of practice of English language teachers

In this chapter, I explore how members of Webheads in Action, an online community of practice of English language teachers, construct a collective identity of “webhead-ness” discursively, how certain community values are realized at the linguistic level in their email communication, and how the community’s collective identity and values shape their professional development. Through a corpus-driven discourse-analytic approach of the email communication and content analysis of in-depth interviews with two long-term active members, I observed that members frequently draw on specific discursive resources that seem to have evolved as idiosyncratic linguistic practices in this community’s culture. Such practices that reinforce a collective identity are critical for cultivating and sustaining long-standing online communities of practice that foster teacher participation and professional development.

Keywords: online community of practice, collective identity, professional identity construction, online participation, membership
Article outline
  • Theoretical framework
    • Communities of practice
    • Online communities of practice
    • Positioning, identity, and collective identity
  • The study
    • Context and background
    • Data sources and analysis
  • Findings
    • RQ1: How do Webheads construct a collective identity of Webheads and Webhead-ness discursively?
    • RQ2: What linguistic practices do Webheads employ in their emails that reflect and reproduce their community values and collective identity?
    • RQ3: How do the Webheads community and its collective identity shape teachers’ professional development as experienced by members?
  • Discussion and conclusion
  • References
Published online: 20 January 2022
DOI logo
https://doi.org/10.1075/lllt.57.05kul
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