Transnational literacy experiences and chronotopic identity work: A duoethnography of returnee English language teachers in China

Abstract This duoethnographic study explores how two nonnative returnee English teachers in China negotiate their professional identities through chronotopically layered transnational literacy experiences. Drawing on the concept of the chronotope—the interconnectedness of time, space, and personhood—the analysis identifies three chronotopic constellations shaping teacher identity: domestic education chronotopes, study‐abroad chronotopes, and postreturn teaching chronotopes. Rather than functioning as isolated temporal segments, these chronotopes coexist and interact across diachronic and synchronic axes, revealing tensions, shifts, and laminations in pedagogical positioning. The study finds that past literacy experiences (e.g., moments of success, failure, frustration, and reorientation) do not merely reside in memory but actively inform present teaching practices through invocation and adaptation. We introduce the concept of adaptive apprenticeship of observation to describe how teachers critically evaluate prior educational models and recontextualize them within present classroom environments. Identity work thus emerges as a dialogic process, chronotopically grounded and continuously reshaped through personal history, institutional constraints, and transnational pedagogical imaginaries. Findings underscore the value of duoethnography as both a methodological and transformative tool for eliciting reflexive teacher learning. Implications are offered for advancing research on transnational teacher identity and enhancing professional development in multilingual higher education settings.