1st Edition
Second Language Teacher Education A Sociocultural Perspective
'… A beautifully written, articulate and compelling argument for a sociocultural perspective on second language teacher education . . . Essential reading for all who wish to understand this perspective.' – David Nunan, University of Hong Kong
'…Significant and timely. Johnson is masterful at writing in an engaging, transparent prose about complex concepts. It’s a rare scholar who can write prose like this. Throughout my reading I wanted to engage in dialogue with her – this is a sure sign of a great book." – Diane Tedick, University of Minnesota, USA
This book presents a comprehensive overview of the epistemological underpinnings of a sociocultural perspective on human learning and addresses in detail what this perspective has to offer the field of second language teacher education. Captured through five changing points of view, it argues that a sociocultural perspective on human learning changes the way we think about how teachers learn to teach, how teachers think about language, how teachers teach second languages, the broader social, cultural, and historical macro-structures that are ever present and ever changing in the second language teaching profession, and what constitutes second language teacher professional development. Overall, it clearly and accessibly makes the case that a sociocultural perspective on human learning reorients how the field understands and supports the professional development of second language teachers.
Contents
Preface
Chapter 1: Defining a Sociocultural Perspective
Changing Points of View
Teachers as Learners of Teaching
Language as Social Practice
Teaching as Dialogic Mediation
Macro-Structures and the L2 Teaching Profession
Inquiry-Based Approaches to Professional Development
Future Challenges for L2 Teacher Education
Chapter 2: Shifting Epistemologies in Teacher Education
Overcoming a Positivistic Epistemological Perspective
Shifting towards an Interpretative Epistemological Perspective
Emerging Research on Teacher Cognition
Reconceptualizing the Knowledge-base of L2 Teacher Education
A Sociocultural Perspective on L2 Teacher Education
Chapter 3: Teachers as Learners of Teaching
Understanding Teacher Learning from a Sociocultural Perspective
"Seeing" Teaching Learning
Teacher-Authored Accounts of Professional Development
Mediational Means in the Zone of Proximal Development
Disciplinary Knowledge and Concept Development
Transformation of Activity: Teacher Learning – Student Learning
Chapter 4: Language as Social Practice
Defining Knowledge About Language
Language as Social Practice
Embracing Language as Social Practice in L2 Teacher Education
Developing Teachers’ Awareness of Language as Social Practice
Analyzing E-mail Messages
Analyzing Classroom Transcripts
Building Curriculum from Contexts of Use
Chapter 5: Teaching as Dialogic Mediation
Teaching, Learning, and Development
The Development of Conceptual Thinking
Reconceptualizing the Concepts of Methodology, Language’, and
Teaching
Reconceptualizing Reading Comprehension Instruction
Scaffolded Learning and Assisting Performance
Teachers’ Questioning Patterns
Maximizing Classroom Interaction
Chapter 6: Macro-Structures and the Second Language Teaching Profession
Activity Theory: An Overview
Educational Reforms Policies
English Language Educational Reform Policies in South Korea
Contradictions and Interventions
Redesigning a School Community: The Case of a Finnish Middle
School
Implementing Educational Reform Policies: The Teaching
Practicum in South Korea
The Power of High-Stakes Language Testing
Constructing a Student: The Case of Joon
Constructing a Student: The Case of Noelle
Chapter 7: Inquiry-based Approaches to Professional Development
The Narrative Nature of Teachers’ Accounts
The School Context and Culture in which Teachers’ Accounts Emerge
Linkages between Teachers’ Accounts and Professional Discourses
The Zone of Proximal Development as a Mediational Space
Models of Inquiry-Based Professional Development
Critical Friends Groups
Peer Coaching
Lesson Study Groups
Cooperative Development
Teacher Study Groups
Chapter 8: Future Challenges for Second Language Teacher Education
‘Located’ Second Language Teacher Education
Linking Teacher Learning and Student Learning
Intellectual Tools of Inquiry vs. The Politics of Accountability
Subject Index
Author Index
Biography
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Karen E. Johnson is Liberal Arts Research Professor of Applied Linguistics at The Pennsylvania State University, and Co-director of the Center for Advance Language Proficiency Education and Research
"I found this book pleasant, stimulating and enlightening reading, as well as a good source of information. I suggest it to whoever is interested not only in L2 teacher training but also in teacher training in general, because it is a valid example of how reflection on learning and on the teaching profession can fruitfully be developed in a sociocultural perspective."--British Journal of Educational Technology, Vol. 41: No. 2, 2010
