Toward a Socioliterate Approach to Second Language Teacher Education

Abstract

This article proposes that effective language teacher preparation should facilitate candidates’ access to the shared knowledge, discursive practices, and instructional processes of language teaching (LT) as an inherently disparate discipline. Whereas the reflective orientation widely embraced in North American teacher education programs should be preserved, reflective practice should be promoted within a socioliterate framework. The author explores the position that teacher education must be grounded partly (though not exclusively) in what is commonly called “theory,” but that this theoretical dimension should be developed by systematically examining socioeducational practices. A genre–based, sociorhetorical approach to LT discourse, it is argued, can build candidates’ awareness of knowledge–construction practices, enhance their declarative knowledge, and develop their professional skills. By modeling analytic and reflective processes that focus on disciplinary knowledge, teacher education can help LT candidates to shape their own professional literacies, enabling them to participate meaningfully in the profession's many conversations.