Abstract

To date, the majority of work in language learning psychology has focused on the learner. In contrast, relatively little attention has been paid to teacher psychology. This volume seeks to redress the imbalance by bringing together various strands of research into the psychology of language teachers. It consists of 19 contributions on well-established areas of teacher psychology, as well as areas that have only recently begun to be explored. This original collection, which covers a multitude of theoretical and methodological perspectives, makes a significant contribution to the emerging field of language teacher psychology as a domain of inquiry within language education.

This book convincingly establishes a new field of enquiry, showing that language teacher psychology – though frequently neglected – really matters! Sarah Mercer and Achilleas Kostoulas have assembled a rich array of expert contributions, uniting hitherto disparate areas in a coherent, ground-breaking collection. The book will inspire new research and action for teacher well-being and learner achievement.

Sarah Mercer is the Head of the ELT Research and Methodology section at the University of Graz, Austria. She is interested in all aspects of language learning psychology, in particular self-related constructs, motivation, affect, agency, mindsets, and belief systems. She is co-editor of Positive Psychology in SLA (with Peter MacIntyre and Tammy Gregersen) and Multiple Perspectives of the Self in SLA (with Marion Williams).

Achilleas Kostoulas taught English in schools in Greece before moving into language teacher education. He completed a PhD at the University of Manchester, UK and now works in the Department of English Studies at the University of Graz, Austria, where he teaches courses in ELT and Applied Linguistics. His research interests focus on the psychology of language learning and teaching.

In contrast to the study of learners, the study of teachers in the field of second language acquisition has been noticeably rare. In this masterful collection of recent research, Mercer and Kostoulas draw together a compelling rationale for attention to teachers as central players in language learning. The chapters in the book are compulsory reading for anyone wishing to gain deeper insights into language teacher psychology.

The volume successfully promotes LTP as an important research area in that it introduces theories closely related to LTP research, suggests possible topics for future LTP studies, and exemplifies research methods in the area.

The chapters in this book have succeeded in laying out a rich, colourful and textured landscape of research into language teachers. With its diverse conceptual frameworks and innovative methodologies, the book is bound to become a primary reference for anyone wishing to orient themselves in this terrain and/or contribute to it.

Heralding language teacher psychology as a movement gaining ascendancy in SLA, the book realistically acknowledges the difficulties of taking on such research while also underscoring its timeliness and exigency. One notably strong aspect of this book is the range of contributors with varied backgrounds and voices who reflect a
broad scope of possibilities and make a strong and concerted argument for further investigation.