This research investigates how three Government-funded Normal Students constructed and reconstructed their identities in a pre-service teacher education programme in China. Drawing upon data from interviews, field observation and the pre-service teachers' written reflections, the study explores the cognitive, social and emotional processes of their teacher identity construction. The findings of the study suggest that pre-service language teachers develop and modify their identities through engaging in cognitive learning, interacting with different socialising factors and experiencing various emotions in university coursework and teaching practicum. The paper concludes with some implications for language teacher education and pre-service teacher education.