Bücher der Reihe Elements in Language Teaching

This Element examines the relationship between language and culture through an L2 in intercultural and transcultural communication. It puts forward the argument that we need to go beyond communicative competence in language teaching and focus instead on intercultural and transcultural awareness.

This Element examines the concept of reflective practice in language teaching. It includes a brief description of what reflective practice is and how it is operationalized by two of its main protagonists, John Dewey and Donald Schon, as well as some of the limitations of their conceptions. This is used as an introduction to how the author further developed their conceptions when operationalizing reflective practice for language teachers through a five-stage framework for reflecting on practice for language teachers. The author then presents an in-depth case study of the reflections of an English as a Foreign Language (EFL) teacher working in Costa Rica as he moved through the five stages of the framework for reflecting on practice. The author then goes on to outline and discuss how reflective practice may be moved forward and calls attention to the importance of emotions in the process of reflection for language teachers.

Learning through the medium of a second or additional language is becoming very common in different parts of the world because of the increasing use of English as the language of instruction and the mobility of populations. This situation demands a specific approach that considers multilingualism as its core. Pedagogical translanguaging is a theoretical and instructional approach that aims at improving language and content competences in school contexts by using resources from the learner's whole linguistic repertoire. Pedagogical translanguaging is learner-centred and endorses the support and development of all the languages used by learners. It fosters the development of metalinguistic awareness by softening of boundaries between languages when learning languages and content. This Element looks at the way pedagogical translanguaging can be applied in language and content classes and how it can be valuable for the protection and promotion of minority languages. This title is also available as Open Access on Cambridge Core.

The author examines who language teacher educators are in the field of language teaching and learning. This includes a description of the different types of language teacher educators working in a range of professional and institutional contexts, an analysis of the reflections of a group of experienced English teacher educators working in Colombia and enrolled in a doctoral program to continue their professional development, and an exposition of the work that language teacher educators do, particularly in the domains of pedagogy, research, and service and leadership (institutional and community). All of this is done with the aim of understanding the identities that language teacher educators negotiate and are ascribed in their working contexts. The author emphasizes the need for research to pay attention to the lives and work of language teacher educators, and offers forty research questions as an indication of possible future research directions.

This Element is a practical guide for language teachers intending to upgrade their online teaching. During the COVID-19 pandemic many teachers were forced to move their teaching online without proper preparation and support. This has led to frustration and stress, and sometimes decisions based not on sound pedagogy but on technological constraints, requirements and opportunities. To balance this negative experience, a research-based, pedagogy-focussed approach has been taken in this volume: step-by-step, teachers are shown how to make decisions about the choice and usage of online tools, how to adapt their pedagogy and teaching strategies to fit with online learning environments, and how to create a positive learning experience for their students. In six sections this Element takes teachers from epistemological considerations to learning theories, from teacher-centred to learner-centred online tuition, and from technological needs to pedagogic choice, ending with suggestions on how to future-proof language teaching.

This Element aims to elucidate the concept of language teacher agency by exploring the 'what' question, offering major conceptualisations of agency and explaining how they shape the way we approach teacher agency. The authors then continue with the 'why' question, and elaborate on the reasons that language teacher agency matters, based on a discussion of the varied purposes of teacher agency at multiple levels. They also acknowledge that teacher agency does not operate alone, and discuss how it intersects with such concepts as teacher identity, emotion, belief and knowledge. Based on this, they identify ways to promote teacher agency through making changes to contexts and/or actors. They then introduce the concept of collective agency and propose a multi-layered model based on an illustrative study. The Element ends with a call for a trans-perspective on understanding language teacher agency so as to facilitate the professional development of language teachers.

This Element examines how pedagogical innovation in language classrooms can be mediated through language teacher education (LTE) by subjecting the author's own practices as a teacher educator to scrutiny. Starting from the premise that implementing innovation can be a challenging enterprise, effective LTE is framed as being built on helping practitioners to recognise and confront often deeply-rooted beliefs and adjust subsequent practices through critical reflection on what an innovation may look like both theoretically and practically. A critically reflective lens is then applied to the author's own work as a teacher educator over several years through a research approach known as self-study of teacher education practices or S-STEP. The approach highlights changes to the author's beliefs and practices as lessons emerged from beginning teachers' engagement with innovative ideas. These are presented with the aim of better understanding how teachers' beliefs and practices with regard to innovation can be enhanced effectively.