Research on language teacher identity has grown exponentially over the last two decades. By researching language teacher identity, we develop a better understanding of how sociological issues generally impact teachers' lives. For non-native language teachers, in particular, challenges tend to originate from language ideologies around…

In the "Qunxi" program, students refer to foreign English teachers as "foreign friends". In this chapter, I elaborate on how foreign English teachers' identity is discursively constructed in a local context, which, in turn, affects students' representations of the teaching practices of both local and foreign teachers. I first…

The author, an adult education specialist, English language learner (ELL) and GED® test instructor, and an ELL herself, shares the perspective of being an immigrant student. The article follows an insider's view of immigrants negotiating knowledge of a new culture with instructors as leaders and gatekeepers to assimilation. From job…

The Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) emphasizes that state and local education agencies (SEAs/LEAs) must provide sufficiently trained staff so that English learners have equal opportunities for attaining English language proficiency and academic achievement across content areas without being "unnecessarily" segregated from non-ELs, thus…

With the worldwide use of English as a second language (ESL) and globalization, teachers are expected to understand, acknowledge and interact with culturally and linguistically diverse students and integrate their linguistic and multicultural backgrounds in classroom settings. Teachers need to be multicultural to be able to successfully impact…

Teaching English literacy in First Nations Australian communities is bound up with the policy aim of improving the social and economic outcomes of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples and the desire to acknowledge, recognise and respect their unique cultural identities, languages and knowledges. But for English literacy teachers working…

This paper proposes a new theoretical framework for reading instruction in second/foreign language classrooms. The theoretical framework introduced in this paper is called the Schematic Information-Processing (SIP) model of reading comprehension and is a combination of video-based instruction and various reading comprehension theories, models, and…

This theoretical review is an overview of three important theories: schema theory, information-processing theory, and sociocultural theory. Second/foreign language teachers need to familiarize themselves with these theories if they want to teach culturally unfamiliar texts more successfully in their language classrooms. Although each of these…

Teachers are cultural informants. The resources teachers use and their interactions with students convey meanings that are both linguistic and cultural. It is important for ESOL teachers to guide students toward integrated intercultural/language learning that will carry them through diverse life experiences. This book goes beyond theoretical…

Since 2000, I have been coordinating a web-based Virtual Exchange (VE) project, "Project Ibunka." "Ibunka" means different cultures in Japanese. It aims to provide opportunities for authentic interaction among English as a Foreign Language (EFL) and English as a Second Language (ESL) learners all over the world. By the end of…

In this webinar, Dr. Carol Tomlinson of the University of Virginia presented the research base supporting the practice of differentiation and described the characteristics of effective differentiation. She led a discussion of how quality preparation can build and strengthen teachers' knowledge and skills in implementing differentiated instruction…

The article aims at presenting a description of languages and cultures and the effect on the teaching of English as a Foreign Language in schools in Papua. It starts with a general picture of the uniqueness of languages and cultures in Papua: its geography, the originality of the people, and the languages and cultures of both NAN and AN. The word…

Like many elementary foreign language teachers, the author traveled from room to room to teach. Each room had different materials and a different classroom culture. This article describes how the author taught her students about Bolivia and how to motivate them through culture. It discusses a service-learning project that brings life-changing…

An ESL instructor describes her experience of using pronunciation pegs, a method to foster the self-monitoring and self-correction of pronunciation mistakes with a view to helping university-level students deal with the ongoing challenge of producing target-like pronunciation. The appeal of pegs to students led the instructor to reflect on what…

Eight students from mainland China chart their learning journeys across national and continental boundaries and socio-cultural contexts. The five women and three men structure their experiences of studying in China and the West around the turning points and life changing choices they made in chasing their dreams. They embody its emergent…