Native Chinese foreign language (CFL) teacher identity is an emerging subject of research interest in the teacher education. Yet, limited study has been done on the construction of Non-native CFL teachers in their home culture. Guided by a concept of teacher identity-in-discourse, the paper reports on a qualitative study that explores how three Non-native CFL teachers construct their teacher identity as they interact with Danish students while teaching CFL at one Danish university. Data collected from in-depth interviews over a period of two years show that the Non-native CFL teachers face tensions and challenges in constructing their identities as CFL teachers, and the tensions and challenges that arose from Danish teaching culture could influence the Non-native CFL teachers' contributions to CFL teaching in their home cultures. The findings further show that in order to cope with the tensions and challenges, the Non-native CFL teachers create an alternative space in ways that enable them to construct their identities as Non-native CFL teachers.
