This article describes a validation study using Retrodictive Qualitative Modeling, a framework for conducting research from a dynamic and situated perspective, to establish an empirical foundation for a new phenomenological construct--language teacher immunity. Focus groups (N = 44) conducted with second language (L2) practitioners and teacher…

This article aims to broaden the scope of language teacher identity research by investigating the emotional demands on teachers-in-training and nonnative English-speaking teachers (NNESTs) in particular. We examined how our focal NNEST participant, Puja, was confronted with and successfully negotiated numerous emotional challenges in her first…

An area of research that may shed light on the pressing problem of FL teacher attrition is emotion labor. Emotion labor (or emotional labour), a construct stemming from research in the fields of communication and psychology and focusing mainly on service professionals, has recently been taken up in education literature. Although student emotions…

In this article, we treat language teacher identity as foundational to educational practice and see Foucault's (1983, 1997) notion of ethical self-formation, and its adoption in teacher education research by Clarke (2008, 2009, 2010), as providing a potential vehicle for understanding the development of teacher agency and critical identity work.…

The African Storybook (ASb) is a digital initiative that promotes multilingual literacy for African children by providing openly licenced children's stories in multiple African languages, as well as English, French, and Portuguese. Based on Darvin and Norton's (2015) model of identity and investment, and drawing on the Douglas Fir Group's (2016)…

In order to understand teacher cognition--the thoughts, beliefs, and knowledge of language teachers--it is helpful to understand why people commit to language teaching in the first place. However, few studies of language teachers have directly examined the nature and development of commitment in language teachers, across their language learning,…

This article, grounded in a Vygotskian sociocultural perspective, details the self-inquiry of a language teacher educator who examined her "emotional dissonance" regarding her mediation of the reflection journals of a teacher learner teaching an ESL class during an internship. Data from the teacher learner's reflection journals and the…

It is widely accepted that teacher cognitions--what teachers know, think, and believe--play a significant part in teachers' decision-making processes. The present study investigated the specific cognitions that 74 Dutch undergraduate and postgraduate student teachers of English as a foreign language (EFL) had on grammar instruction and how these…

This article takes a broadly sociocultural perspective on the development of an Armenian English as a foreign language (EFL) teacher. It focuses on how experiences and actions outside the professional development classroom influence language teacher agency. The paper is framed within activity theory and specifically draws on Galperin's orienting…

This study investigates the relationship among Japanese high school teachers' beliefs, their practices, and socioeducational factors regarding communicative language teaching (CLT). A multimethods approach was used consisting of a survey, interviews, and class observations. A Teacher Beliefs Questionnaire was sent to 188 randomly selected Japanese…

The present study reports on the evidence of first language (L1) attrition in a population that may appear to be the most resistant to L1 changes. Russian monolinguals (n=3) and Russian-English bilinguals (n=10) participated in the study. The bilinguals were graduate students teaching Russian as a foreign language at a U.S. university. The data…

The purpose of this study was to enlist practitioners in language immersion programs in the identification and elaboration of issues and challenges in immersion language teaching. Through focus groups and extensive individual interviews, 6 elementary Spanish-language immersion teachers in 3 school settings served as informants. (Author/VWL)

Reports on a study that documented the views and practices of communicative language teaching (CLT) by Japanese second language inservice teachers. Uses multiple data sources including interviews, observations, and surveys to report on how teachers define CLT and implement it in their classrooms. (Author/VWL)

Classroom observation of 13 college language courses and analysis of student questionnaire and teacher interview responses indicated that teachers varied widely in use of target language with a mean of 67.9 percent; language type, departmental policy, lesson content, and teacher training affected target language use; and students were generally…

This paper cites observational and interview evidence indicating that language immersion students in the United States and Canada increasingly avoid using their second language in peer interactions as they move into higher primary grade levels. Implications for immersion programs and teachers are discussed. (32 references) (MDM)