Challenging Boundaries in Language Education

Challenging Boundaries in Language Education is an edited volume which brings together 15 chapters by 22 scholars who work in applied linguistics, teacher education, and other related fields. By bringing together these perspectives, the volume aims to critically examine the way language teaching and learning has been conceptualised. The book was published in 2019 as part of Springer’s Second Language Learning and Teaching series.

Copy of Challenging Boundaries in Language Education displayed in bookcase
Challenging Boundaries in Language Education

Contents

The volume consists of 13 chapters, flanked by an introductory and concluding comments by the editor. The substantive chapters are organised in three parts, corresponding to three broad thematic axes, along which TESOL can be re-imagined.

Introduction

  • Conceptualizing and Problematizing Boundaries in Language Education (Achilleas Kostoulas)

Part A (Rethinking Language Education Theory)

The first part of the volume comprises four chapters that invite readers to reflect on the informing theory of TESOL and its links to practice.

  • A Journey Through the Landscapes of Language Education (Janez Skela)
  • Repositioning Language Education Theory (Achilleas Kostoulas)
  • An Ecological Perspective for Critical Action in Applied Linguistics (Juup Stelma & Richard Fay)
  • Space and Time for Understanding(s): The Recursive Cycle of Language Education and Classroom Enquiry (Anna Costantino)

Part B (Reshaping Language Education Practice)

The second part of the volume consists of four chapters which problematise the disconnects between language education and other aspects of the curriculum.

  • Challenging Curricular Boundaries and Identities Through CLIL (Katerina Vourdanou)
  • Beyond the Garrison: Global Education and Teaching (Canadian) Literature in the EFL Classroom (Jürgen Wehrmann)
  • Building a Model Engine for Language Learning with Tertiary Engineering Students (Dietmar Tatzl)
  • Across Languages and Cultures: Modelling Teaching and Learning with Intercomprehension (Claudia Mewald)

Part C (Redefining Language Teachers and Learners)

The third part of the collection brings together five chapters that look into the changing anthropogeography of language education, and examine how the disruption of geographical borders is reshaping language teaching and learning.

  • Thinking Outside the Box: The Impact of Globalization on English Language Teachers in Austria (Alia Moser & Petra Kletzenbauer)
  • Third-Age University Teachers in Language Education: Navigating the Boundaries of Work-Life Balance and Retirement (Sonja Babić & Kyle Talbot)
  • Study Abroad: L2 Self-efficacy and Engagement in Intercultural Interactions (Gianna Hessel)
  • Schools as Linguistic Space: Multilingual Realities at Schools in Vienna and Brno (Lena Schwarzl, Eva Vetter & Miroslav Janik)
  • Beyond Conventional Borders of Second Language Teachers’ Education: A Digital, Interdisciplinary, and Critical Postgraduate Curriculum (Roula Kitsiou, Maria Papadopoulou, George Androulakis, Roula Tsolakidou & Eleni Skourtou)

Conclusion

Boundaries Crossed, and New Frontiers: Ongoing Theoretical, Empirical, and Pedagogical Issues in Language Education (Achilleas Kostoulas)

Draft of Challenging Boundaries in Language Education, prior to submission to Springer
Challenging Boundaries in Language Education

Making of the book

Working with the authors of the chapters has been a privilege for me, and producing the book was an invaluable learning experience. You can read more about this process and about the chapters that make up the collection by clicking on the button below:

Read more about the book