This book investigates the efficacy of a teacher educator collaborating with rural Chinese teachers of English to activate agentic adoption of task-based language teaching (TBLT). Set in rural northwestern China, the book traces the researcher's role as a participant-observer, during which she conducted a 12-week immersive study in a rural secondary school. The initial approach focused on understanding and trust-building, followed by the development of a collaborative partnership with teachers, and results demonstrate that given appropriate guidance and assistance, rural Chinese teachers successfully incorporated tasks into their classrooms to encourage increased motivation for learning and communicating in English. This book will be of interest to students and scholars of applied linguistics, language education, and TESOL, and the author demonstrates that true teacher educators are more effective as learning partners to teachers than simply a coach or lecturer.

Provides 'thick descriptions' as to what actually happens in the language classroom Shows how pedagogical innovation happens in a highly contextualized environment Asks how teachers can be helped to understand task-based language teaching (TBLT)

Autorentext

Jing Yixuan recently completed her PhD in Applied Linguistics at Victoria University of Wellington, New Zealand. She has many years of teaching experience at the tertiary level in China. She has taught English, including teacher training for future Chinese ESL teachers. She was born and raised in rural China.

Inhalt

Chapter 1. Introduction.- Part I: Setting The Scene.- Chapter 2. Understanding task-based language teaching (TBLT) .- Chapter 3. TBLT in the classroom: Unready teachers.- Chapter 4. The start of a PhD journey.- Chapter 5. TBLT in curriculum innovation and TPD programs in Chinese context.- Chapter 6. Understanding rural China.- Chapter 7. Foundations of TBLT and teacher cognition. Part II: In The Field.- Chapter 8. The road to East Gate School.- Chapter 9. The teachers at East Gate School.- Chapter 10. The researcher as learning partner.- Chapter 11. Let us teach together: Collaborative teaching.- Part III: Making Sense Of The Story.- Chapter 12. The role of school leadership in school based TPD programs.- Chapter 13. Human agency: The capacity to implement curriculum innovation.- Chapter 14. The role of the teacher educator in teacher professional development.- Chapter 15. Collaborative teaching and teacher ZPD.- Chapter 16. Implications of the project for scaling-up.