The Intentional Dynamics of TESOL

This monograph is a collaboration with Juup Stelma (University of Manchester).

The intentional dynamics model that we describe in the book brings together complex systems theory and ecological theory. By putting these two perspectives together, we propose a model that can account for how teaching and learning activity emerges in TESOL, and how (once produced) it goes on to shape structures, beliefs and expectations.

A Language School as a Complex System: Complex Systems Theory in English Language Teaching

This monograph shows how phenomena of interest in language education might be described using Complex Systems Theory as a theoretical lens.

Using a language school in Greece as an example, I suggest we can think of the school as a complex dynamic system. I then go on to present such a description, which I argue should contain four components:

• a delineation of all the forms of teaching and learning conceivably available to the school (its state space);
• a description of the forms of teaching and learning that are more likely, taking into account the resources available (or affordances);
• an overview of the main motivational drivers that in the school (the intentionalities); and finally,
• a presentation of the forms of teaching and learning that actually take place (the attractors).

This four-component frame can be used to describe similar phenomena that take place at different levels of analysis, whether our focus is on individual learners and teachers, or on nation-wide educational systems.

Edited Collections

Ideologies,
Linguistic Communication and Education

This Greek-language edited collection brings together papers that were originally presented in the Ideologies, Linguistic Communication and Education (Ιδεολογίες, γλωσσική επικοινωνία και εκπαίδευση) conference, which was organised by the University of Volos on 6th November 2019.

The volume comprises 10 peer-reviewed chapters that discuss themes such as the connections between language and the ideology it encodes, ideological beliefs about language, and the way linguistic ideology is expressed in education and public discourses.

Challenging Boundaries
in Language Education

This edited collection traces its origins to the Language Education Across Borders international conference, which took place in Graz in December 2017.

The 15 peer-reviewed chapters that make up this volume are intended to challenge readers’ perceptions of language education, and to prompt them to rethink the aims, methods, content and populations involved.

The book is part of the Springer Second Language Teaching and Learning series.

Language Teacher Psychology

To date, the majority of work in language learning psychology has focused on the learner. In contrast, relatively little attention has been paid to teacher psychology. This volume seeks to redress the imbalance by bringing together various strands of research into the psychology of language teachers. It consists of 19 contributions on well-established areas of teacher psychology, as well as areas that have only recently begun to be explored. This original collection, which covers a multitude of theoretical and methodological perspectives, makes a significant contribution to the emerging field of language teacher psychology as a domain of inquiry within language education.

Available formats include hardcover, softback, and ebook (Kindle, pdf and epub).  Available through Multilingual Matters and Amazon.

Mercer, S. & Kostoulas, A. (Eds). (2018). Language Teacher Psychology. Bristol: Multilingual Matters.

Reviews of Language Teacher Psychology

In contrast to the study of learners, the study of teachers in the field of second language acquisition has been noticeably rare. In this masterful collection of recent research, Mercer and Kostoulas draw together a compelling rationale for attention to teachers as central players in language learning. The chapters in the book are compulsory reading for anyone wishing to gain deeper insights into language teacher psychology. (Anne Burns, University of New South Wales, Australia)

The chapters in this book have succeeded in laying out a rich, colourful and textured landscape of research into language teachers. With its diverse conceptual frameworks and innovative methodologies, the book is bound to become a primary reference for anyone wishing to orient themselves in this terrain and/or contribute to it. (Maggie Kubanyiova, University of Leeds, UK)

This book convincingly establishes a new field of enquiry, showing that language teacher psychology – though frequently neglected – really matters! Sarah Mercer and Achilleas Kostoulas have assembled a rich array of expert contributions, uniting hitherto disparate areas in a coherent, ground-breaking collection. The book will inspire new research and action for teacher well-being and learner achievement. (Richard Smith, University of Warwick, UK)