A SCOPING REVIEW OF THE “NEST/NNEST STUDIES” IN TURKEY: A COUNTRY IN FOCUS

Abstract

Parallel to the increasing growth in critical approaches to ELT since the 1970s and the exponential interest in (second) language teacher identity since the late 1990s, we have been witnessing the emergence of what some scholars call “NEST/NNEST studies” as a bona fide area of inquiry in ELT and applied linguistics. However, even a cursory overview of the existing literature and review studies reveal that country-specific investigations providing systematic overviews of research efforts in local contexts are often absent in such investigations. In order to respond to this need, this scoping review of 85 studies (43 peer-reviewed journal articles, 7 book chapters, 26 master’s theses, and 9 doctoral dissertations) published between 2000 and 2020 presents a systematic overview of scholarship focusing on language teacher identities. The results indicate this strand of inquiry exhibits an increasing trend, both quantitatively and qualitatively. It is also shown these studies would further benefit from greater theoretical depth, conceptual stringency, methodological rigor, and empirical coherence. It is hoped that this inquiry will provide a first systematic step towards a more comprehensive understanding of the current state of the field in the local context and possible future directions for novice and experienced scholars.