The Plurilingual Tesol Teacher

This book explores the language biographies of plurilingual and monolingual teachers, drawing on theories of teacher cognition and linguistic identity. It shows how circumstantial and elective experiences constitute powerful resources contributing to their professional knowledge and beliefs, and calls for the valuing of these resources in teacher education.

This book introduces a new topic to applied linguistics: the significance of the TESOL teacher’s background as a learner and user of additional languages. The development of the global TESOL profession as a largely English-only enterprise has led to the accepted view that, as long as the teacher has English proficiency, then her or his other languages are irrelevant. The book questions this view. Learners are in the process of becoming plurilingual, and this book argues that they are best served by a teacher who has experience of plurilingualism. The book proposes a new way of looking at teacher linguistic identity by examining in detail the rich language biographies of teachers: of growing up with two or more languages; of learning languages through schooling or as an adult, of migrating to another linguaculture, of living in a plurilingual family and many more. The book examines the history of language-in-education policy which has led to the development of the TESOL profession in Australia and elsewhere as a monolingual enterprise. It shows that teachers’ language backgrounds have been ignored in teacher selection, teacher training and ongoing professional development. The author draws on literature in teacher cognition, bilingualism studies, intercultural competence, bilingual lifewriting and linguistic identity to argue that languages play a key part in the development of teachers’ professional beliefs, identity, language awareness and language learning awareness. Drawing on three studies involving 115 teachers from Australia and seven other countries, the author demonstrates conclusively that large numbers of teachers do have plurilingual experiences; that these experiences are ignored in the profession, but that they have powerful effects on the formation of beliefs about language learning and teaching which underpin good practice. Those teachers who identify as monolingual almost invariably have some language learning experience, but it was low-level, short-lived and unsuccessful. How does the experience of successful or unsuccessful language learning and language use affect one’s identity, beliefs and practice as an English language teacher? What kinds of experience are most beneficial? These concepts and findings have implications for teacher language education, teacher professional development and the current calls for increased plurilingual practices in the TESOL classroom.

Assembling a rich and diverse range of research studies on the role of plurilingualism across a wide variety of teaching and learning settings, this book supports teacher reflection and action in practical ways and illustrates how researchers tease out and analyze the complex realities of their educational environments. With a focus on education policies, teaching practices, training, and resourcing, this volume addresses a range of mainstream and specialized contexts and examines the position of learners and teachers as users of plurilingual repertoires. Providing a close look into the possibilities and constraints of plurilingual education, this book helps researchers and educators clarify and strengthen their understandings of the links between language and literacy and offers them new ways to think more rigorously and critically about the language ideologies that shape their own beliefs and approaches in language teaching and learning.

TESOL Teacher Education in a Transnational World critically examines theories and practices in contemporary TESOL teacher education to shed new light on the intersection of transnationalism and language teacher education. It emphasizes the scholarship of transnational mobility of language teachers, and showcases critical research from diverse contexts. The book fills a critical research gap by more fully examining the theory and practice of teacher education in a changing time when national identities and cross-border mobilities continue to figure prominently in scholarly discussions. Through a diverse set of epistemological, historical and theoretical perspectives along with methodological innovations, contributors of this volume not only index the dynamism of the scholarship of teacher education, but they also offer new forums for lively pedagogical debates. Featuring contributions from diverse educational and geographical contexts, including Europe, Asia, North America, and Latin America, the book moves the existing scholarship forward to more fully examine TESOL teacher education in relation to transnationalism. This book will be of great interest to academics, scholars, post-graduate students, teacher educators, policymakers, curriculum specialists, administrators, and other stakeholders interested in language teacher education, TESOL and applied linguistics

This book critically engages with theoretical shifts marked by the ‘multilingual turn’ in applied linguistics, and articulates the complexities associated with naming and engaging with the everyday language practices of bi/multilingual communities. It discusses methodological approaches that enable researchers and educators to observe and interact with these communities and to understand their teaching and learning needs. It also highlights pedagogical approaches and instructional strategies involved with learning and teaching language and/or content curriculum to students across various learning and educational contexts. The book addresses recent debates on the multi/plural turn in applied linguistics and articulates the limitations of these debates - particularly the absence of discussion of social power relations and contexts in applying different theoretical lenses. It features empirical research from primarily North American classrooms to highlight how plurilingual pedagogies take shape in unique educational contexts, resisting monolingual approaches to language in education. Furthermore, it includes commentary/response pieces from established scholars in dialogue with recent plurilingual research in the field, to put the work in critical perspective within extant theories and literature.

The book is of interest to scholars of multilingualism, language teachers, researchers, and administrators who are developing policies on teaching English and promoting multilingualism. Given its scope, this edited collection provides an overview of how multilingualism is transforming the practice of Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages (TESOL) in diverse contexts around the world. It serves as a platform for discussions related to policy enactment where TESOL and multilingualism are viewed as collaborative endeavours and approaches the topic from three different angles. The first section of the book provides critical examinations of previous initiatives and accomplishments in the area of language policy development and implementation. The second section describes current projects and initiatives intended to expand and strengthen the field of TESOL while providing space for local and indigenous languages to develop. The third and last part of the book highlights policy development areas that need special consideration in order to develop a form of TESOL that builds on and contributes to multilingualism.

To respond to the multilingual turn in language education, this volume constitutes a challenge to the traditional, monolingual, and native speakerism paradigm in the field of Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages (TESOL) through a translanguaging lens. The chapters offer complex global perspectives – with contributions from five continents – to open critical conversations on how to conceptualize and implement translanguaging in teacher education and classrooms of various contexts. The researchers exhibit a shared commitment to transforming TESOL profession that values teachers’ and learners’ full linguistic repertoires. This volume should prove a valuable resource for students, teachers, and researchers interested in English teaching and learning, applied linguistics, second language acquisition, and social justice.

This edited volume showcases how teacher educators around the world engage with critical and dialogic approaches to prepare TESOL professionals. Language teachers are at the forefront of supporting the academic and social needs of increasingly ethnically and linguistically diverse student populations around the globe, and preparing critical and dialogic TESOL teachers with social justice orientations is essential to helping language learners fulfil their academic and linguistic potential. Although more experienced TESOL teachers may be able to agentively implement critical and dialogic approaches to instruction, we know little about what TESOL teacher educators do to help train and prepare language teachers who can do exactly that. In this volume, TESOL educators from various contexts share their experiences on how they engage with critical and dialogic approaches to reimagine TESOL teacher education. Chapter authors engage with different aspects of critical and dialogic approaches to present their visions for reimagining curricula, pedagogies, online spaces, and the roles of students, teachers, and teacher educators.