A Casebook For Second Language Teacher Education

This volume offers a series of actual dilemmas within language classrooms that are designed to promote reflection and discussion. It applies the case-based pedagogy often used in business and other fields to that of second language teacher education to encourage pre- and in-service teachers to grapple with the types of dilemmas and decisions teachers confront every day. Case-based pedagogy resists simple resolutions and easy answers; the activities that precede and follow each case are designed to stimulate analysis and discussion and allow users to draw on theoretical foundations while making critical practical connections. The cases represent a range of classroom contexts: K–12 ESL/sheltered English immersion, modern foreign language, and post-secondary EAP; private, charter, and public schools; and urban and suburban settings. The book is ideally suited to College/School of Education and MA TESOL courses but will also be useful in professional development workshops for all types of language teachers.

This casebook is designed to broaden L2 teacher knowledge, thinking, and practice with regard to making language and learning accessible to all students. Language teachers are especially accountable for promoting socially just, inclusive, decolonizing, and multicultural pedagogical practices and curricula; at this critical juncture in history, this book is intended to raise language teachers’ awareness of the importance of critically examining and reflecting on the intersectionality of language education and inclusive pedagogical practices. Language teacher educators can use this text in their courses and workshops to build on and extend theoretical foundations, while making critical practical connections. The 12 cases presented here cover a range of inclusive language teaching and learning issues that practitioners are likely to face in their respective teaching contexts. All the cases are based on real-life dilemmas faced by practitioners in the field and have been informed by discussions with pre-service and in-service student teachers. The cases represent a range of classroom contexts: K–12 ESL/sheltered English immersion, world language, and post-secondary EAP; private, charter, and public schools; and urban and suburban settings. The cases are accompanied by pre- and post-problem sets and in-class discussion questions. This volume applies the case-based pedagogy often used in some fields to that of second language teacher education to encourage pre- and in-service teachers to grapple with the types of dilemmas and decisions teachers confront every day. The cases here are not intended as exemplars of practice to be emulated or illustrations of existing theories; instead, they are problem-based narratives that resist clear-cut answers or solutions and remain open ended to stimulate further investigation and reflection. The goal is to mimic the complexity of the classroom where teachers confront a range of pedagogical and learning challenges, and the ensuing experience requires critical, real-time decisions that demand keen professional discernment.

Authentic practice for promoting equitable learning environments for all students

Presents various challenging situations English teachers will most likely face, and provides questions to consider and thoughts on each issue. Covers such areas as lessons that flop, the paper load, curriculum, second-language learners, abused students, and attacks on the teacher's competence.

This casebook is part of a nationwide effort to capture and use practitioner knowledge to better prepare teachers for the reality of today's classrooms, given a student population vastly different from that of even a decade ago. Consciously designed to provoke engaging and demanding discussion, the cases presented here are candid, dramatic, highly readable accounts of teaching events or series of events. Set in three of the nation's most diverse cities -- San Francisco, Los Angeles, and Phoenix -- the cases offer problem-based snapshots of on-the-job dilemmas. The teacher-authors discuss topics that generate heated interchange and run the risk of polarizing opinions and creating defensive assumptions, particularly those dealing with bias, race, and class. These issues, plus cultural behaviors and socioeconomic circumstances have important implications for classroom practices. By examining such issues, the editors hope that educators will see -- and act on -- the need for a greater variety of teaching styles, distribution of opportunities, and educational access for all students.

A companion volume to Diversity in the Classroom, this guide presents 13 cases designed to help individuals and groups reflect on teaching. Specifically, it offers the information needed to use these cases in structured professional development experiences.

Case studies are a powerful pedagogical tool for illuminating constructs and models in real-life contexts. Covering a wide range of teaching-learning contexts and offering in-depth analyses of ESL/ELT language curriculum design issues, this casebook is distinctive and unique in that each case draws on and is clearly linked to a single model presented in Nation and Macalister’s Language Curriculum Design (www.routledge.com/9780415806060), giving the book a high degree of coherence. A short commentary by the editors after each case highlights features of note and/or issues arising from it. This is a versatile text, designed to work as a companion to Language Curriculum Design (adding meaning and depth to the model presented there by relating it to a range of applications), as a stand-alone text, or as a resource for language teacher trainees, teacher educators, practicing teachers, program administrators, and materials writers in the field.

Second Language Writing in Elementary Classrooms focuses on L2 writing in elementary classrooms. It features chapters that highlight research in elementary classrooms focused on the writing development of multilingual children, and research in teacher education to prepare elementary teachers to teach L2 writing and address L2 writers' needs.

Table of contents

A companion volume to Diversity in the Classroom, this guide presents 13 cases designed to help individuals and groups reflect on teaching. Specifically, it offers the information needed to use these cases in structured professional development experiences.