TESOL and Policy Enactments: Perspectives From Practice

Abstract

Prior research in the area of language policy and planning (LPP) has been focused primarily on macro decision‐making and the impact of national, local, and institutional policies in educational settings. Only recently have scholars begun examining the everyday contexts in which policies are interpreted and negotiated in ways that reflect local constraints and possibilities. The redirection of inquiry toward situated policy enactments in TESOL is the central theme of this special issue and the introductory article. In this article we address and expand on several key themes that arise from and unify the various contributions to the issue: (a) the enhanced status and implications of locality in policy research, (b) practitioner agency and the ethical concerns involved, (c) the globalization of particularistic agendas (i.e., neo‐liberalism) and their impact on nation‐state identities and policy enactments.