Although much research has problematised the monolingual mindsets of English language teachers, relatively little research has explored how they can agentively negotiate internalised language ideologies. Drawing on works on language ideologies, this study examines Chinese pre-service English language teachers’ adherence or resistance to dominant language ideologies regarding three contentious linguistic concepts: ‘native English speakers’, ‘Standard English’, and ‘China English’. Using qualitative content analysis, the study compares dominant language ideologies that emerged from a set of written narratives about the three concepts completed at the beginning and end of a sociolinguistic course introducing counter-narratives. The findings reveal that participants neither blindly perpetuate monolingual ideologies, nor did they uncritically adopt the course messages. Instead, they were sharply aware of the affordances or constraints that adoption of a particular language ideology can offer them, and they strategically moved back and forth from monolingual to pluralistic ideologies based on the multiple layers of contexts they were embedded in. This study provides insight to teacher educators who are interested in challenging internalised language ideologies of pre-service language teachers in contexts where monolingual ideologies prevail.