Systematic reviews of research with a focus on methodological and thematic concerns are being increasingly popular considering their roles in helping researchers keep track of recent topical trends and up-to-date research tendencies in a particular field. This review of research probes into the research studies on English language teacher education (ELTE) published in three flagship teacher education journals (Teaching and Teacher Education, European Journal of Teacher Education, Journal of Teacher Education, N=139) in the last two decades (1997-2016). The articles were classified and analyzed on a collaborative coding basis through a paper classification template designed by the researchers in order to reveal the research design, sampling, data collection tools and data analysis procedures as well as the thematic trends. The prominent findings are as follows: (i) there is a significant increase in the number of ELTE articles in the second decade in comparison to the first ten years, (ii) qualitative research has been the evergreen paradigm adopted in these articles, and (iii) "identity" construct is highlighted as the most established area of research on English language teachers.