Understanding Language Classroom Contexts: The Starting Point for Change

by Martin Wedell, Angi Malderez

Arguably the whole point of education is to effect change in what people know and are able to do. Globalization has contributed to a common perception worldwide of the need to introduce changes to the teaching and learning of languages. The success of many attempts to do so has been limited by insufficient consideration of implementation contexts. Understanding Language Classroom Contexts explores and illustrates how what happens in any (language) classroom is influenced by (and can be an influence on) the contexts in which it is situated. A clear understanding of these influences is thus the starting point for planning effective change. The book considers many visible and invisible features of the multiple layers of any context, and provides a framework for understanding the types of factors that may influence whether changes (planned by a teacher or externally initiated) are likely to be successful. The book will help teachers (and educational managers or change planners outside the classroom) to understand why their classrooms are as they are and so to make informed decisions about what can or cannot (or not easily) be changed, and suggests how any changes might be appropriately managed.

248 pages, Hardcover

First published April 11, 2013

About the author

Martin Wedell has recently retired as Head of International Education at the School of Education at the University of Leeds, UK. With more than 30 years’ experience as a teacher and teacher educator, he has worked and lived around the world. His research focuses on better understanding the processes involved in planning and supporting English language curriculum changes.