Pre-service language teachers’ multilingual identities—linking understandings of intercultural language learning with evolving teacher identity

Although there has been a growing focus on the intersection of intercultural understanding, identity and multilingualism among learners of languages, our understanding of how these three constructs influence the learning journey of pre-service language teachers is still limited. In this chapter, we examine the evolving pre-service teacher identities of three aspiring language teachers as they traverse the pre-service education phase of their career preparation. As part of a wider mixed-methods study we analysed interviews with pre-service teachers, which were conducted pre- and post-placement in schools using the five sub-categories of the multilingual identity approach to intercultural understanding (Fielding, 2021). These explorations of pre-service language teacher identity development can not only help inform initial teacher education and subsequent school support practices, but also be a productive way for pre-service teachers to engage with the complexity of intercultural understanding, identity and multilingualism so that they are then empowered to support their future language students to engage in a participatory approach to student multilingual identity.