The role of English in the global arena has prompted official language-in-education policy makers to adopt language education policies to enable its citizens to be proficient in English and to access knowledge. Local educational contexts in different countries have implemented English education in their own ways with different pedagogical goals, motivations, features and pedagogies. While much of the research cited in English language planning policy has focused on macro level language policy and planning, there is an increasing interest in micro planning, in particular teacher agency in policy response. Individual teacher agency is a multifaceted amalgam, not only of teachers' individual histories, professional training, personal values and instructional beliefs, but also of how these interact with local interpretations and appropriations of policy.

Teacher Agency and Policy Response in English Language Teaching examines the agency of the teacher in negotiating educational reforms and policy changes at the local and national levels.

Chapters in the book include:

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  English language teaching in China: teacher agency in response to curricular innovations
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  Incorporating academic skills into EFL curriculum: teacher agency in response to global mobility challenge
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  Teacher agency, the native/nonnative dichotomy, and "English Classes in English" in Japanese high Schools
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  Teacher-designed high stakes English language testing: washback and impact

This book will appeal to researcher across all sectors of education, in particular key stakeholders in curriculum and language planning. Those interested in the latest development of English language teaching will also find this book a valuable resource.

About the Author

Patrick C. L. Ng holds an EdD in Applied Linguistics and TESOL (University of Leicester, UK) and is currently a professor at the University of Niigata Prefecture in Japan. His research focuses on language planning and policy, sociolinguistics, language education, bilingualism, multilingualism, English as a lingua franca and Chinese language studies.

Esther F. Boucher-Yip is an assistant professor at Worcester Polytechnic Institute, USA. She holds an EdD in Applied Linguistics and TESOL from University of Leicester, UK. She is the author of the book Language Maintenance and Shift Among the Semai in Malaysia: A Study of Indigenous Language Use and the co-editor of Local Contextual Influences on Teaching: Narrative Insights from ESL and EFL Professionals.

Reviews

Teacher agency in TESOL - should we be pessimistic or optimistic? This book provides much needed data and analysis across a diverse range of international sites. Now we can begin to answer the question based on more than just pessimism of the intellect and optimism of the will. -- Graham Crookes, University of Hawai'i

Many new policies for the teaching of English give the distinct impression of being introduced, not so much because they are based on sound research and evidence of their success, but because of 'common-sense' assumptions about how languages are learned and how they should be taught. Into this equation, in recent decades, has entered a kind of universal anxiety on the part of educational policy makers that without English, their nations will be left behind politically, economically and socially. ... Readers of this volume will find in these pages an intriguing compilation of classroom scenarios, instructional contingencies, and policy responses, at the heart of which is the agency of the language teacher. In response to the currently limited scope of research on micro-level language education policy, the editors have found a niche that is richly filled by the accounts that follow. -- Anne Burns, Foreword

Book Information
ISBN 9781138604544
Author Patrick C. L. Ng
Format Paperback
Page Count 204
Imprint Routledge
Publisher Taylor & Francis Ltd
Weight(grams) 322g