Language Teacher Agency
Navigating Complex and Diverse Educational Contexts
Published on 24. July 2025
Book
Hardback
336 pages
978-1-350-45479-8 (ISBN)
Description
This open access book argues that language teacher agency is not simply a matter of individual choice, but is also shaped by the complex social, political and educational contexts in which language teachers work. It provides a framework for understanding the complexities of language teacher agency in a wide range of language. It offers practical advice on how to support language teachers in developing and enhancing their agency towards social, cultural, political and linguistic discourses and practices that have an impact on language teachers' efficacy, intentionality, self-reflectiveness and identity. Through a wide range of methodological approaches such as (duo)ethnographic work, pedagogical interventions, narrative case studies, dialogic approaches and curriculum innovations, this book critically examines the individual and collective efforts of languages teachers as they build and exercise their agentic capacity within and across the contextual conditions in which they are situated.
Part I considers the socio-cultural and socio-political factors which facilitate, or interfere with, the exercise of teacher agency in language classrooms, and the ways language teachers can exercise their agency to design locally relevant pedagogies. Part II examines the structural, systemic, ideological and pedagogical transformations needed in order for language teachers to be empowered to displace dominant pedagogies with more socially-just pedagogies to meet the needs of diverse students and of the curriculum. Finally, Part III looks at what dialogic practices can assist language teachers in mitigating dominant discourses and structural procedures, as well as what professional support is needed to assist language teachers in developing a sense of agency.
The ebook editions of this book are available open access under a CC BY-NC-ND 4.0 licence on bloomsburycollections.com. Open access was funded by the University of New England, Australia; University of Melbourne, Australia; and Monash University, Australia.
Part I considers the socio-cultural and socio-political factors which facilitate, or interfere with, the exercise of teacher agency in language classrooms, and the ways language teachers can exercise their agency to design locally relevant pedagogies. Part II examines the structural, systemic, ideological and pedagogical transformations needed in order for language teachers to be empowered to displace dominant pedagogies with more socially-just pedagogies to meet the needs of diverse students and of the curriculum. Finally, Part III looks at what dialogic practices can assist language teachers in mitigating dominant discourses and structural procedures, as well as what professional support is needed to assist language teachers in developing a sense of agency.
The ebook editions of this book are available open access under a CC BY-NC-ND 4.0 licence on bloomsburycollections.com. Open access was funded by the University of New England, Australia; University of Melbourne, Australia; and Monash University, Australia.
Reviews / Votes
This book is an excellent resource on language teacher agency for graduate students, applied linguists, and language teacher educators. The rigorous research presented in the chapters unpacks the complexities associated with language teacher agency. Analyzing agency in different geographical settings and diverse contexts through a wide range of research methodologies, the chapters deepen our understanding of the links between agency, identity, and practice. The critical lens evident throughout the chapters invites the reader to engage with agency and other relevant constructors deeply and critically. * Hayriye Kayi-Aydar, University of Arizona, US * This volume offers a polyvocal conversation on language teacher agency with accounts from diverse geographical and sociopolitical contexts such as Chile, Finland, and Vietnam among others. Readers will find a careful discussion of theoretical perspectives around the construct of teacher agency as a relational concept in which individual and societal factors coalesce. * Dario Banegas, Senior Lecturer in Language Education, University of Edinburgh, UK * Language Teacher Agency illuminates how teachers navigate complex sociopolitical landscapes with resilience and creativity. With critical insights and rich empirical studies, it powerfully redefines agency as collective, situated, and transformative - a vital resource for educators committed to justice, diversity, and meaningful change in language education. * Susan Ollerhead, Macquarie University, Australia * At a time when educational justice being dialed back due to political pressures, this much needed volume provides valuable insights on how teachers across the globe have and can effectively negotiate identity politics and constraints while carrying out their professional responsibilities in an agentive and uplifting manner. A must read! * Peter De Costa, Michigan State University, USA *More details
Series
Language
English
Place of publication
London
United Kingdom
Publishing group
Bloomsbury Publishing PLC
Target group
Professional and scholarly
Illustrations
19 bw illus
Dimensions
Height: 240 mm
Width: 162 mm
Thickness: 30 mm
Weight
640 gr
ISBN-13
978-1-350-45479-8 (9781350454798)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Persons
Leonardo Veliz is Associate Professor in Language and Literacy Education at the University of New England, Australia.
Minh Hue Nguyen is Senior Lecturer in TESOL Education at Monash University, Australia.
Yvette Slaughter is Associate Professor in Languages and Literacies Education at the University of Melbourne, Australia.
Gary Bonar is Senior Lecturer in Languages and TESOL at Monash University, Australia.
Minh Hue Nguyen is Senior Lecturer in TESOL Education at Monash University, Australia.
Yvette Slaughter is Associate Professor in Languages and Literacies Education at the University of Melbourne, Australia.
Gary Bonar is Senior Lecturer in Languages and TESOL at Monash University, Australia.
Content
List of Figures
List of Tables
List of Contributors
Series foreword
Advancing Language Teacher Agency Research: An Introduction, Leonardo Veliz (University of New England, Australia), Minh Hue Nguyen (Monash University, Australia), Yvette Slaughter (University of Melbourne, Australia) and Gary Bonar (Monash University, Australia)
Part I: Language Teacher Agency and Identity
1. Vietnamese Pre-service Teachers' Agency in Negotiating the Tensions between Aspired and Experienced Identities, Minh Hue Nguyen (Monash University, Australia) and Xuan Minh Ngo (University of Queensland, Australia)
2. A Longitudinal Study of Pre-Service and Early Career Languages Teacher Agency, Gary Bonar, Ruth Fielding and Meihui Wang (Monash University, Australia)
3. The Development of Collective Agency among Language Teachers in a Professional Community, Jian Tao (Shanghai University of Finance and Economics, China) and Xuesong (Andy) Gao (University of New South Wales, Australia)
4. Language Teacher Agency in a Transnational Telecollaborative Project between Turkey and the USA,
Bedrettin Yazan (University of Texas, San Antonio, USA), Baburhan Uzum (Sam Houston State University, USA), John Turnbull (University of Texas, San Antonio, USA), Sedat Akayoglu (Bolu Abant Izzet Baysal University, Turkey), OEzgehan Ustuk (Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Hong Kong), Sultan Mavis (Bolu Abant Izzet Baysal University, Turkey) and Serdar Sen (Bolu Abant Izzet Baysal University, Turkey)
5. Understanding linguistic repertoire: Language, identity and agency in pre-service language teacher education, Yvette Slaughter and Julie Choi (University of Melbourne, Australia)
6. Agentic and Less-Agentic Orientations in TESOL Student Teachers' Motivation, Mairin Hennebry-Leung (University of Tasmania, Australia)
7. Reshaping Agency and International Teacher Identity: Supporting EAL VCE Students via a Bilingual Immersion Model at a Sino-Australian Senior School in China, Jennifer Cutri (Swinburne University of Technology, Australia)
Part II: Language Teacher Agency amidst Structural and Cultural Constraints
8. Exercising Teacher Agency in Response to Demands of Practice: Insights from an Australian TESOL Online Placement, Thi Kim Anh Dang (Monash University, Australia) and Minh Hue Nguyen (Monash University, Australia)
9. Teacher Agency of Synchronous Online One-to-One Language Teachers: An Investigation through Critical Incidents in Teaching, Chujie Dai (Guangdong Ocean University, China)
10. Challenging Monolingual Discourses for Agentic Spaces: Constraints and Opportunities for Language Educators in the Chilean Education System, Leonardo Veliz (University of New England, Australia), Yvette Slaughter (The University of Melbourne, Australia) and Finex Ndhlovu (University of New England, Australia)
11. Teacher Agency in Practice during a National Educational Reform: A Case Study of Primary English Teachers in Vietnam, Anh Nguyen (University of Foreign Language Studies, Vietnam)
12. Not Another Paper About Problems We Can't Solve: EL Teachers' Agency in Times of The Impossible, Chau Le, Anita Dubroc and Kim Skinner (Louisiana State University, USA)
Part III: Language Teacher Agency for Social, Cultural and Linguistic Responsibility
13. Language Teacher Agency for Social Justice: Meaningful Experiences During Teacher Education, Priscila Leal (University of Hawai?i at Manoa, USA)
14. The Visible Invisibility of Black Adult Educators in ELT, Olive Nabukeera (University of Southern California, USA)
15. The Negotiation of Plurilingualism by Teachers in a Finnish Heritage Language School, Johanna M. Tigert (University of Massachusetts Lowell, USA)
Forging New Paths for Language Teacher Agency: Concluding Remarks, Yvette Slaughter (University of Melbourne, Australia), Leonardo Veliz (University of New England, Australia), Minh Hue Nguyen and Gary Bonar (Monash University, Australia)
Index
List of Tables
List of Contributors
Series foreword
Advancing Language Teacher Agency Research: An Introduction, Leonardo Veliz (University of New England, Australia), Minh Hue Nguyen (Monash University, Australia), Yvette Slaughter (University of Melbourne, Australia) and Gary Bonar (Monash University, Australia)
Part I: Language Teacher Agency and Identity
1. Vietnamese Pre-service Teachers' Agency in Negotiating the Tensions between Aspired and Experienced Identities, Minh Hue Nguyen (Monash University, Australia) and Xuan Minh Ngo (University of Queensland, Australia)
2. A Longitudinal Study of Pre-Service and Early Career Languages Teacher Agency, Gary Bonar, Ruth Fielding and Meihui Wang (Monash University, Australia)
3. The Development of Collective Agency among Language Teachers in a Professional Community, Jian Tao (Shanghai University of Finance and Economics, China) and Xuesong (Andy) Gao (University of New South Wales, Australia)
4. Language Teacher Agency in a Transnational Telecollaborative Project between Turkey and the USA,
Bedrettin Yazan (University of Texas, San Antonio, USA), Baburhan Uzum (Sam Houston State University, USA), John Turnbull (University of Texas, San Antonio, USA), Sedat Akayoglu (Bolu Abant Izzet Baysal University, Turkey), OEzgehan Ustuk (Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Hong Kong), Sultan Mavis (Bolu Abant Izzet Baysal University, Turkey) and Serdar Sen (Bolu Abant Izzet Baysal University, Turkey)
5. Understanding linguistic repertoire: Language, identity and agency in pre-service language teacher education, Yvette Slaughter and Julie Choi (University of Melbourne, Australia)
6. Agentic and Less-Agentic Orientations in TESOL Student Teachers' Motivation, Mairin Hennebry-Leung (University of Tasmania, Australia)
7. Reshaping Agency and International Teacher Identity: Supporting EAL VCE Students via a Bilingual Immersion Model at a Sino-Australian Senior School in China, Jennifer Cutri (Swinburne University of Technology, Australia)
Part II: Language Teacher Agency amidst Structural and Cultural Constraints
8. Exercising Teacher Agency in Response to Demands of Practice: Insights from an Australian TESOL Online Placement, Thi Kim Anh Dang (Monash University, Australia) and Minh Hue Nguyen (Monash University, Australia)
9. Teacher Agency of Synchronous Online One-to-One Language Teachers: An Investigation through Critical Incidents in Teaching, Chujie Dai (Guangdong Ocean University, China)
10. Challenging Monolingual Discourses for Agentic Spaces: Constraints and Opportunities for Language Educators in the Chilean Education System, Leonardo Veliz (University of New England, Australia), Yvette Slaughter (The University of Melbourne, Australia) and Finex Ndhlovu (University of New England, Australia)
11. Teacher Agency in Practice during a National Educational Reform: A Case Study of Primary English Teachers in Vietnam, Anh Nguyen (University of Foreign Language Studies, Vietnam)
12. Not Another Paper About Problems We Can't Solve: EL Teachers' Agency in Times of The Impossible, Chau Le, Anita Dubroc and Kim Skinner (Louisiana State University, USA)
Part III: Language Teacher Agency for Social, Cultural and Linguistic Responsibility
13. Language Teacher Agency for Social Justice: Meaningful Experiences During Teacher Education, Priscila Leal (University of Hawai?i at Manoa, USA)
14. The Visible Invisibility of Black Adult Educators in ELT, Olive Nabukeera (University of Southern California, USA)
15. The Negotiation of Plurilingualism by Teachers in a Finnish Heritage Language School, Johanna M. Tigert (University of Massachusetts Lowell, USA)
Forging New Paths for Language Teacher Agency: Concluding Remarks, Yvette Slaughter (University of Melbourne, Australia), Leonardo Veliz (University of New England, Australia), Minh Hue Nguyen and Gary Bonar (Monash University, Australia)
Index