the present study aimed at exploring cognitions of iranian english teachers within the context of english for academic purposes (eap). to this end, the cognitions of two groups of eap teachers with respect to their pedagogical content knowledge (pck) and their sense of professional identity (pi) were probed. two language teachers and two content instructors who had at least five years of eap teaching experience were selected from amirkabir university of technology (tehran polytechnic). in addition to teachers, 200 students (50 students from each teachers eap class) were asked to reflect on their eap teachers pedagogical content knowledge by filling out a questionnaire. during a semester, the teachers eap classes were observed for eight whole sessions. then, aforementioned teachers were interviewed to elicit their cognitions about four categories of their pck on the one hand, and their perceptions of the underlying factors contributing to their professional identity formation and development, on the other hand. meanwhile, the learners who voluntarily participated in the study completed the translated version of a questionnaire to judge their eap teachers on different dimensions of their pedagogical content knowledge. the results of content analysis revealed some commonalities but major discrepancies in the cognitions and practices of the two groups of eap teachers with regard to their pedagogical content knowledge. teachers of both camps claimed to have interactive eap classes where group work is highly appreciated and students questions and their comments are welcomed; nevertheless, a serious gap regarding their teaching methodology was felt among all the teachers. attending to their discrepancies, the content teachers seemed to adhere to transformative education by reflecting on their teaching, fostering student motivation, hearing learners voice, involving them in materials selection, being responsive to their learning needs, and encouraging teacher-learner collaboration. on the other hand, the language teachers reflected a more traditional approach in their teaching, leaving behind issues of flexibility and diversity. despite the above differences in the practice of the two groups of eap teachers, the analysis of the student questionnaire and the results of a one-way anova indicated no significant difference between language teachers and their content counterparts concerning the four categories of their pedagogical content knowledge. from students standpoint, the teachers subject matter knowledge (smk) was more satisfactory than the other three knowledge components of their pck. especially, their knowledge of instructional representation and strategies (irs) was less positively assessed by all the students. as far as the eap teachers professional identity (pi) was concerned, the study came up with eight factors of attitudes and emotions, experience, efficacy beliefs, knowledge, efficacy doubts and reflection, autonomy, interaction, and commitment and job satisfaction as the underlying constituents of their pi. among these factors, the first five ones were what resembled language teachers and content instructors in their articulated cognitions, whereas the last three elements were the distinguishing features of the content teachers sense of identity. it was also found that knowledge, particularly pedagogical content knowledge and professional identity are interrelated attributes of eap teachers which mutually affect each other. in the light of the findings, some theoretical and practical implications as well as suggestions for future research are presented.