ABSTRACT
Against this backdrop, I found myself refl ecting carefully on the issue of teacher identity in my own research. Despite the fact that I do not situate myself centrally in the identity research literature, the concept of teacher identity has indeed emerged and been explored in several of my studies. In these studies, I invoked the concept of teacher identity to document teacher development, to explain classroom interactions, and to explore what it means to become a professional language educator. In this refl ective commentary, I review three of my studies to illustrate the important role of identity in foreign language teacher education and professional development, my working defi nition of the concept of a professional identity, and the areas of needed research in this fi eld. In other words, I will try to answer the question: What does identity have to do with my work?
