Language Teachers' Narratives of Practice

Reviews / Votes

'This book is a welcome addition to the growing literature that aims to give voice to, and thereby value to, first person accounts of language learning. [...] The strength of the book lies in the passion it conveys as it links the personal life experience of teachers as learners with their own past and how this past has informed their current practice. [...] This collection of stories will entertain, fascinate and inspire in equal measure. I recommend it to practising teachers, teacher educators and scholars interested in intercultural narratives. Indeed, anyone who has engaged with language and intercultural learning (and who hasn't?) will find resonance with their own experience.'Simon CoffeyKing's College LondonThe Language Learning Journal, 04.09.2014'This is a fascinating book, not least for language teachers in Europe. The narratives are both personal and professional, as teachers tell about themselves as teachers and as learners and the links between the two. As one contributor puts it: 'Looking back, I can see how the varied experiences in my life have shaped the type of language teacher I am today.' The languages learnt and taught range from Noongar to Japanese passing through French, German, Latin, Indonesian and others. The teaching described includes 'heritage', 'intercultural', 'digital', 'immersion', 'community', with a focus sometimes on motivation and retention, sometimes on elite, gifted, privileged and sometimes on disadvantaged learners. Because each chapter brings a different story but also a different style of writing and narrating, the book is a fine representation of a multifarious teaching force which Australia is lucky to have.'Michael Byram