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Abstract
Facilitated by the robust evolution of short video social media platforms and microcelebrity economy, online commercial English Language Teaching (ELT) in mainland China has witnessed notable innovation, fostering a sizable cohort of ELT microcelebrity teachers with enduring e-fame and followers. These educational microcelebrities’ online practices can challenge commonly accepted beliefs about language teacher identities in China and reveal the language ideologies underlying English learning within the current online ELT market. Grounded in the “identity” perspective, the present study examines the nuanced online portrait of Robert (pseudonym), an elite ELT microcelebrity and native English speaker on Douyin (internationally known as TikTok). Reflexive thematic analysis and social semiotic approaches both helped inductively decipher Robert’s intentional self-presentations based on his profile page and videos. The findings revealed Robert’s multifaceted self-images as a professional native English teacher, an individual with publicly favored personality traits, and a transnational figure from the United States. Robert’s online self-persona establishment is underpinned by the Chinese ELT market’s language ideologies featuring native-speakerism and implies the negotiation between English teachers’ social responsibilities, the market-led nature of commercial ELT and microcelebrity economy.
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Copyright (c) 2025 Chenru Zheng, Ruoyu Cui, Lin Pan (Author)