language teaching research

You are in: North America Change location

In observance of the 2024 holiday season, Sage offices will be closed Monday December 23rd through Wednesday January 1st. Normal operations, including shipping for orders placed during the closure, will resume on Thursday January 2nd. For technical support during this time, please visit our technical support page for assistance options.

We wish you a wonderful holiday season. Thank you.

Disable VAT on Taiwan

Unfortunately, as of 1 January 2020 SAGE Ltd is no longer able to support sales of electronically supplied services to Taiwan customers that are not Taiwan VAT registered. We apologise for any inconvenience. For more information or to place a print-only order, please contact [email protected] .

Language Teaching Research

Preview this book.

Description
Aims and Scope
Editorial Board
Abstracting / Indexing
Submission Guidelines

Language Teaching Research is a peer-reviewed journal that publishes research within the area of second or foreign language teaching. Although articles are written in English, the journal welcomes studies dealing with the teaching of languages other than English as well.

The journal is a venue for studies that demonstrate sound research methods and which report findings that have clear pedagogical implications.

A wide range of topics in the area of language teaching is covered, including:

Materials design
Methodology
The teaching of specific skills and language for specific purposes

This journal is a member of the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) .

Submit your manuscript today at https://mc.manuscriptcentral.com/ltr .

Thorough investigation and research ensures this journal is:

International in focus, publishing work from countries worldwide
Interdisciplinary, encouraging work which seeks to break down barriers that have isolated language teaching professionals from others concerned with pedagogy
Innovative, seeking to stimulate new avenues of enquiry, including 'action' research
Academic Search Premier
Contents Pages in Education
Current Index to Journals in Education
Educational Research Abstracts Online - e-Psyche
IBZ: International Bibliography of Periodical Literature
IBZ: International Bibliography of Periodical Literature in the Humanities and Social Sciences
International Bibliography of Book Reviews of Scholarly Literature in the Humanities and Social Sciences
International Bibliography of Book Reviews of Scholarly Literature on the Humanities and Social Sciences
Language Teaching
Linguistics Abstracts
Linguistics and Language Behavior Abstracts
MLA Abstracts of Articles in Scholarly Journals
MLA International Bibliography
Social Science Abstracts
Sociological Abstracts

Manuscript submission guidelines can be accessed on Sage Journals .

Read Online
Sample Issues
Current Issue
Email Alert
Permissions
Foreign rights
Reprints and sponsorship
Advertising

Member Subscription, Combined (Print & E-access)

Individual Subscription, Combined (Print & E-access)

Institutional Backfile Purchase, E-access (Content through 1998)

Institutional Subscription, E-access

Institutional Subscription & Backfile Lease, E-access Plus Backfile (All Online Content)

Institutional Subscription, Print Only

Institutional Subscription, Combined (Print & E-access)

Institutional Subscription & Backfile Lease, Combined Plus Backfile (Current Volume Print & All Online Content)

Individual, Single Print Issue

Institutional, Single Print Issue

To order single issues of this journal, please contact SAGE Customer Services at 1-800-818-7243 / 1-805-583-9774 with details of the volume and issue you would like to purchase.

Language Teacher Research Methods

Reference work entry
First Online: 28 May 2017
Cite this reference work entry

Manka M. Varghese 5 &
I-Chen Huang 6

Part of the book series: Encyclopedia of Language and Education ((ELE))

4448 Accesses

1 Citations

Research methods and approaches to study language teachers have been aligned with theories underpinning language teacher education. Earlier views on teaching were of a seamless relationship with one’s professional training, and thus, studies of second language classrooms primarily used quasiexperimental methods and observation schemes in order to identify the effectiveness of one’s pedagogical practice. This behaviorist model of teaching was critiqued due to its insufficient attention on teachers’ mental lives and actions; therefore, a qualitative approach that highlights the role of teachers in interaction with students and their environment has prevailed more recently. Qualitative data collection strategies (e.g., fieldnotes, interviews, reflective writings, or stimulated recall) aim to make tacit teachers’ cognitive processes visible and provide a descriptive account of their practices. Ensuing methods were primarily narrative and based in teacher research. These inquiries not only allowed teachers to examine their own classrooms, but helped them transform themselves at a personal and sociopolitical level. Nevertheless, both (1) how to understand and view language teacher knowledge and (2) how to conceptualize language teacher learning, present methodological challenges in studying these phenomena. A pressing issue is how to connect language teaching with learning outcomes. Future research will use mixed-methods to examine multiple teaching variables and their effects on students’ achievement, and will also adopt a critical approach to understand language teachers and teaching, such as studying and understanding language teacher identity.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

Subscribe and save.

Get 10 units per month
Download Article/Chapter or eBook
1 Unit = 1 Article or 1 Chapter
Cancel anytime
Available as PDF
Read on any device
Instant download
Own it forever
Available as EPUB and PDF

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Institutional subscriptions

Research and Teacher Education in English Language Teaching: Section Introduction

Allexsaht-Snider, M. (1996). Windows into diverse worlds: The telling and sharing of teachers’ life histories. Education and Urban Society, 29 , 103–119.

Article Google Scholar

Allwright, D. (1983). Classroom-centered research on language teaching and learning: A brief historical overview. TESOL Quarterly, 17 , 191–204.

Allwright, D. B., & Bailey, K. M. (1991). Focus on the language classroom: An introduction to classroom research for language teachers . Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Google Scholar

Allwright, D. B., & Lenzuen, R. (1997). Exploratory practice: Work at the cultural ingles, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Language Teaching Research, 1 , 73–79.

Bailey, K. M. (1996). The best laid plans: Teachers’ in-class decisions to depart from their lesson plans. In K. M. Bailey & D. Nunan (Eds.), Voices from the language classroom: Qualitative research in second language education (pp. 15–40). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Bailey, K. M., & Nunan, D. (Eds.). (1996). Voices from the language classroom: Qualitative research in second language education . Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Barnard, R., & Burns, A. (Eds.). (2012). Researching language teacher cognition and practice . Bristol: Multilingual Matters.

Borg, S. (2006). Teacher cognition and language education: Research and practice . London: Continuum.

Borg, S. (2013). Teacher research in language teaching: A critical analysis . Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Canagarajah, A. S. (Ed.). (2005). Reclaiming the local in language policy and practice . Mahwah: Lawrence Erlbaum.

Chaudron, C. (1988). Second language classrooms: Research on teaching and learning . Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Book Google Scholar

Cheung, Y. L., Said, S. B., & Park, L. (Eds.). (2015). Advances and current trends in language teacher identity research . Abingdon, Oxon: Routledge.

Cochran-Smith, M., & Zeichner, K. M. (Eds.). (2005). Studying teacher education: The report of the AERA panel on research and teacher education . Mahwah: Lawrence Erlbaum.

Creese, A. (2005). Teacher collaboration and talk in multilingual classrooms. Clevedon: Multilingual Matters.

Duff, P. A., & Uchida, Y. (1997). The negotiation of teachers’ sociocultural identities and practices in postsecondary EFL classrooms. TESOL Quarterly , 31, 451–486.

Edge, J. (Ed.). (2001). Action research . Alexandria: Teachers of English to Speakers of Other Languages Inc.

Edge, J., & Richards, K. (Eds.). (1993). Teachers develop teachers research: Papers on classroom research and teacher development . Oxford: Heinemann International.

England, L. (Ed.). (2012). Online language teacher education: TESOL perspectives . Abingdon: Routledge.

Erben, T. (2004). Emerging research and practices in immersion teacher education. Annual Review of Applied Linguistics, 24 , 320–338.

Freeman, D. (1989). Teacher training, development, and decision making model: A model of teaching and related strategies for language teacher education. TESOL Quarterly , 23, 27–45.

Freeman, D. (1998). Doing teacher research: From inquiry to understanding . Boston: Heinle & Heinle Publishers.

Freeman, D., & Richards, J. C. (Eds.). (1996). Teacher learning in language teaching . Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Freeman, D., & Johnson, K. E. (1998). Reconceptualizing the knowledge base of language teacher education. TESOL Quarterly , 32, 397–417.

Fröhlich, M., Spada, N., & Allen, P. (1985). Differences in the communicative orientation of L2 classrooms. TESOL Quarterly, 19 , 27–56.

Galindo, R. (1996). Reframing the past in the present: Chicana teacher role identity as a bridging identity. Education and Urban Society, 29 , 85–102.

Johnson, K. E. (1992). Learning to teach: Instructional actions and decisions of preservice ESL teachers. TESOL Quarterly, 26 , 507–535.

Johnson, K. E. (1996). The vision versus the reality: The tensions of the TESOL practicum. In D. R. Freeman & J. C. Richards (Eds.), Teacher learning in language teaching (pp. 30–49). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Johnson, K. E. (2009). Second language teacher education . New York: Routledge.

Johnson, K. E., & Golombek, P. R. (Eds.). (2002). Teachers’ narrative inquiry as professional development . Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Johnson, K. E., & Golombek, P. R. (2003). “Seeing” teacher learning. TESOL Quarterly, 37 , 729–738.

Johnston, B. (1997). Do EFL teachers have careers? TESOL Quarterly, 31 , 681–712.

Liu, J. (1999). Nonnative English-speaking professionals in TESOL. TESOL Quarterly, 33 , 85–102.

McDonough, J., & McDonough, S. (1997). Research methods for English language teachers . London: Arnold.

Minaya-Rowe, L. (Ed.). (2002). Teacher training and effective pedagogy in the context of student diversity . Greenwich: Information Age.

Nunan, D. (1988). The learner-centered curriculum: A study in second language teaching . Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Pennington, M. C. (1996). When input becomes intake: Tracing the sources of teachers “attitude change”. In D. R. Freeman & J. C. Richards (Eds.), Teacher learning in language teaching (pp. 320–348). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Politzer, R. L. (1970). Some reflections on “good” and “bad” language teaching behaviors. Language Learning, 20 , 31–43.

Putnam, R. T., & Borko, H. (2000). What do new views of knowledge and thinking have to say about research on teacher learning? Educational Researcher, 29 , 4–16.

Riazi, A. M., & Candlin, C. N. (2014). Mixed-methods research in language teaching and learning: Opportunities, issues and challenges. Language Teaching, 47 , 135–173.

Richards, J. C. (1990). The dilemma of teacher education in second language teaching. In J. C. Richards & D. Nunan (Eds.), Second language teacher education (pp. 3–16). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Richards, J. C., & Nunan, D. (Eds.). (1990). Second language teacher education . Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Skilton-Sylvester, E. (2003). Legal discourses and decisions, teacher policymaking and the multilingual classroom: Constraining and supporting Khmer/English biliteracy in the United States. International Journal of Bilingual Education and Bilingualism, 6 (3), 168–184.

Smith, P. D. (1970). A comparison of the cognitive and audiolingual approaches to foreign language instruction: The Pennsylvania foreign language project . Philadelphia: Center for Curriculum Development.

Tsui, A. B. M. (2003). Understanding expertise in teaching: Case studies of second language teachers . Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

van Lier, L. (1986). Conflicting voices: Language, classrooms, and bilingual education. In K. Bailey & D. Nunan (Eds.), Voices from the language classroom: Qualitative research in second language education (pp. 363–387). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

van Lier, L. (1988). The classroom and the language learner: Ethnography and second language classrooms . London: Longman.

Varghese, M., Morgan, B., Johnston, B., & Johnson, K. (2005). Theorizing language teacher identity: Three perspectives and beyond. Journal of Language, Identity and Education, 4 , 21–44.

Wallace, M. (1998). Action research for language teachers . Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Woods, D. (1998). Teacher cognition in language teaching . Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Yates, R., & Muchisky, D. (2003). On reconceptualizing teacher education. TESOL Quarterly, 37 , 135–146.

Download references

Author information

Authors and affiliations.

College of Education, University of Washington, Box 353600, Seattle, WA, 98195, USA

Manka M. Varghese

Department of English, Wenzao Ursuline University of Languages, Kaohsiung, Taiwan

I-Chen Huang

You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Manka M. Varghese .

Editor information

Editors and affiliations.

University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA

Kendall A. King

Faculty of Education and Social Work, The University of Auckland, Auckland, New Zealand

Stephen May

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

About this entry

Cite this entry.

Varghese, M.M., Huang, IC. (2017). Language Teacher Research Methods. In: King, K., Lai, YJ., May, S. (eds) Research Methods in Language and Education. Encyclopedia of Language and Education. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-02249-9_38

Download citation

DOI : https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-02249-9_38

Published : 28 May 2017

Publisher Name : Springer, Cham

Print ISBN : 978-3-319-02248-2

Online ISBN : 978-3-319-02249-9

eBook Packages : Education Reference Module Humanities and Social Sciences Reference Module Education

Share this entry

Anyone you share the following link with will be able to read this content:

Sorry, a shareable link is not currently available for this article.

Provided by the Springer Nature SharedIt content-sharing initiative

Publish with us

Policies and ethics

Find a journal
Track your research

You are here