Repositioning the Self: Unpacking the Nexus Between L2 Teacher Identity and Wellbeing Among Transitional Academics

ABSTRACT Using perezhivanie as an analytic lens, this narrative inquiry examines how L2 teacher identity and wellbeing co‐evolve as two Chinese transitional academics move from private‐university teaching through doctoral study into employment at public universities. The data consisted of autobiographical narratives, first‐round semi‐structured narrative interviews, and second‐round member‐checking interviews that also elicited further narrative elaboration. Within‐case analysis synthesized these materials into phase‐structured case portraits, followed by cross‐case comparison; wellbeing‐related codes were mapped onto four PERMA‐derived components for language teachers. Findings trace a shared trajectory from marginal or replaceable positions in private universities, through credential‐seeking and emerging researcher positions during doctoral study, to integrated teacher–researcher identities in public universities. Across these phases, wellbeing shifted from fragmented configurations marked by strain and employment insecurity toward more integrated configurations encompassing uplifting emotions, relationships, accomplishment, and holistic fulfillment. A perezhivanie ‐informed interpretation suggests a mutually shaping relationship between identity repositioning and wellbeing: emotionally charged appraisals of changing constraints, affordances, and forms of recognition shaped identity positioning and wellbeing, while experiences of strain, belonging, and accomplishment informed whether particular identities felt sustainable across career transitions.