Drawing on data collected from multiple sources, this qualitative case study investigates how seven English-as-a-foreign-language (EFL) academics from a university in mainland China perceive and cope with their professional vulnerability within the system of performativity. Three themes were generated from the data: (1) professional vulnerability…

Background/purpose: Although studies on teacher research are becoming more common in English language teaching (ELT), there is still a lack of understanding regarding how university lecturers shape their research identities. Using Ecological systems theory and Self-determination theory, this study examines the construction of research identities…

Teacher attrition is a pervasive issue that affects educational systems globally, contributing to significant challenges in maintaining a stable and experienced teaching workforce. While existing research has explored teacher attrition in various educational contexts, there is a scarcity of studies with in-depth qualitative phases specifically…

Teacher professional development (PD) has been shown to have numerous benefits, such as greater self-efficacy, higher motivation, and enhanced wellbeing (e.g., Kimura, 2014; Polin, 2023; Wang & Chen, 2022), and teaching additional languages is certainly no exception. However, the extent to which teachers are willing and able to engage in PD…

The purpose of this paper is to examine the reasons behind teachers' negative attitudes about classroom observation. This multiple-case study interviewed five teachers from different private language schools in Iran. The themes emerging from in-depth interviews suggest that the negative attitudes could be related to the observer effect, teacher's…

In this study, we propose an ecological model of teacher agency and emotional vulnerability that draws on epistemological roots of these two constructs to capture historico-personal, socio-organizational, and prospective levels of teacher professionalism. We then ontologically apply the model to exploring transnational language teachers' agency…

A wide range of English for Academic Purposes (EAP) programs provide important support for international students enrolled in Canadian post-secondary contexts. While there has been a recent uptick in academic interest and research surrounding EAP programs in Canada, there has been relatively little work focused on understanding the practitioners…

This paper examines recent reforms in English-language testing in Japan using a policy distraction framework. We identify the term 'washback (effect)' and other related discourses as major distractors and investigate how 'washback' discourses have functioned as political slogans or catchphrases in policy deliberation processes and how they have…