While there is now a considerable body of work on teacher identity in the area of language education, much less attention has been given to the question of the extent to which student teachers are enabled to construct identities that are consonant with the opportunities and challenges of current multilingual classrooms. Drawing on a recent…

This paper reflects on issues arising from a research-informed learning and teaching project intended to enable student teachers of Modern Languages to experiment with the use of unscripted 'process drama' in their classroom practice. The idea that process drama could become part of the language teacher's repertoire has been in circulation for…

This book examines the beliefs and attitudes of teacher educators, teachers and student-teachers about the impact of language teaching and learning. It draws on three research-based studies carried out by the author in collaboration with colleagues at the National University of Ireland, Galway, King's College London and the Lynch School of…

With evidence that formative assessment supports pupils' learning, it follows that that there is a need to develop student teachers' assessment competence. However, in some teacher education programmes, learning about pupil assessment is often relegated to a late stage. This can lead to student teachers' perceptions of assessment as an "add…

The paper investigates how a student on a master's-level teacher education course for English language teachers goes about constructing her grammar knowledge. The learner is a novice teacher with English as a foreign language. Learner diary, interview, and group interaction data were analysed thematically, revealing that she made relatively few,…

Democratic principles and human rights, the core values of the Council of Europe, informed the development of the "Common European Framework of Reference for Languages" (CEFR; Council of Europe 2001. "Common European framework of reference for languages: Learning, teaching, assessment." Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.…

What kind of knowledge informs the practice of English teachers? Recent policy developments, in England and elsewhere, have sought to specify a knowledge base for teachers. Drawing on case studies produced by pre-service English teachers, this essay explores the complex, multifaceted and situated character of the knowledge that teachers develop in…

In the age of Anthropocene, we problematize the multitudes of affordances of humanism that we are ultimately entwined by and within. Education is a discipline that always placed predominance to the human centredness ignoring several non-human and non-living objects that also form a part of teaching and learning. However, the humanistic notions of…

Ernesto Macaro is Emeritus Professor of Applied Linguistics in the Department of Education at the University of Oxford, UK. He was the founding director of the EMI Oxford Research Group (formerly the Centre for Research and Development in English Medium Instruction) in the Department of Education. His research focuses on second language learning…

Purpose: This paper aims to deal with the processes and experiences of teaching English as an additional language (AL). More specifically, it deals with the research question of which teaching methods are used when teaching English as AL and why. Design/methodology/approach: It concerns a case study approach conducted in an English primary school…

This paper explores the impact of an action research intervention to support primary aged children's confidence as writers. Set in a school where few children (the majority of whom had English as an additional language) were performing at or beyond national expectations in terms of writing, the intervention looked at how to engage children more…

This paper makes the claim that student teachers' learning depends a great deal on the individual school department where they are working, its social practices and the relationships of the teachers involved in initial teacher education (ITE). The paper considers how using a Cultural Historical Activity Theory (CHAT) lens to view data generated on…

There has been much debate about the development of a suitably qualified workforce to deliver the objectives of the Key Stage 2 language learning entitlement in England. The model of a skilled primary languages subject leader, working in collaboration with enthusiastic generalist class teachers is emerging as a consistent preference. Relatively…

The COVID-19 pandemic has revealed the reality of life in all aspects of human endeavors. The education sector was not spared--the school system was uprooted and procedures had to be made quickly for the safety of students and faculty. As a result, educators struggled with keeping students engaged academically during online learning and the stress…

It is widely believed that digitally-driven changes are not welcomed amongst academic staff in higher education. However, when in March 2020, the University of Nottingham went online in response to the UK government's COVID-19 lockdown, a different picture started to emerge. This contribution reflects on the initial steps taken to respond to the…