Second Language Teacher Education and Future Directions

Abstract

As a relatively new and growing profession, second language teacher education (SLTE) has evolved greatly over the past few decades. Indeed, SLTE has taken on a more global perspective and the knowledge base of SLTE has greatly expanded to include such topics as teacher cognition, teacher identity, reflective practice, teacher research, narratives and teacher self‐development, teacher expertise, teacher emotions, and teacher immunity, to name but a few. For language teachers, SLTE serves as a bridge to what is known in the field with what is recommended that teachers implement in the classroom and, it does this through candidates who are educated as second language teachers. This entry outlines and discusses SLTE and some different dimensions of SLTE that includes a discussion of the theory/practice disparity that exists between SLTE programs and the lived lives of language teachers in classrooms. Future directions of SLTE are also outlined and discussed.