Language Teacher Research in Europe

Teachers increasingly are recognizing the power of research to improve their practice, and the contributors to this volume are no exception. The contributors are teacher researchers from many different contexts: higher education, secondary school, or teacher education settings. They have embraced the challenge to self-analyze their teaching practices, reflect on their students learning environments, and turn the lessons learned into practical instructional strategies. Each contributor describes specific classroom experiences in a European context and extracts a more broadly applicable analysis of how to improve student learning. Some topics covered in these chapters are Exploring the dynamics of classroom interactions between the teacher and students and among students Helping teachers learn to be researchers Analyzing the factors students view as important to learning English Using the Web and e-mail to foster learning about academic language, course content, and English-speaking cultures Experimenting with ways to enhance learner motivation, participation, autonomy, engagement, and understanding These contributors share their findings so that other language teachers can compare and contrast these studies with their own classroom challenges and accomplishments. When educators take an inquiry approach to language teaching, they can craft professional development that is personally meaningful and has lasting results for English language learners.