Robert A. Randez’s research while affiliated with Western Michigan University and other places

Teacher preparation has the insurmountable task of preparing candidates for classrooms with constantly changing demographics and demands. Whether it is contemporary pedagogical practices or understanding the needs of a multilingual/multicultural student body, TESOL teacher preparation programs (TPP) are trusted by accrediting bodies to produce classroom‐ready teachers. In the United States, state departments of education produce teacher standards that are implemented in TPP curricula, which are then acknowledged through accreditation. This relationship marks these TESOL teacher standards as policy (Johnson, 2013), and this study serves as an exemplar for mapping the implementation process, starting with the language policy funnel (Johnson & Johnson, 2015) and then expanding it using Social Systems Theory (Luhmann, 2012). The new system model highlights two breakdown points in the implementation process, which question the teacher standards/curriculum alignment in a Midwestern TESOL TPP. The findings offer insight into the complexity of TESOL TPP, the disconnect between TPPs and real‐world classrooms, and policy implementation research in educational contexts.

Narrative inquiry has gained traction in applied linguistics as a complementary approach to positivistic research, focusing on the subjectivities of individuals’ lived experiences and using stories as data, analytical tools, and reporting practice. Although numerous methodologically oriented publications on narrative inquiry in the field reflect its vitality, scholars have raised questions about the complexity and ambiguity underlying what exactly constitutes narrative inquiry. While methodological diversity within narrative inquiry can signal innovation, it can also create uncertainty for novice and experienced scholars engaging with the methodology for the first time. To address these concerns, we conducted a systematic methodological synthesis of narrative inquiry studies in applied linguistics published from 2012 to 2022. Specifically, we searched 12 top-tier applied linguistics journals and developed a corpus of 291 articles. We coded our corpus according to four areas: (a) theoretical framing, (b) demographic characteristics, (c) methodological design, and (d) reporting of ethics, researcher positionality, and funding status. We discuss our results in light of previous thematic reviews of narrative inquiry in applied linguistics, and we offer empirically grounded recommendations for scholars engaging with narrative inquiry. Our study responds to calls for greater methodological transparency in applied linguistics in general and methodological investment in narrative inquiry in particular.

Promoting diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) has become a unifying cause within applied linguistics. Whether highlighting the experiences of linguistically diverse learners across the social class spectrum or advocating for the inclusion of marginalized populations in research, researchers within the subfields of applied linguistics have firmly taken up the DEI cause. However, one population is sparsely addressed, and this requires substantial attention. The disabled community includes a range of demographics with a variety of needs. In this article, we provide a historical commentary on the establishment of equity for the disabled community within the United States, applied linguistics, and the wider language testing field. We then offer a framework for advancing equity through a reflective process, along with two examples. The first focuses on the terminology used to reference this population and the ongoing process of respectful representation within published work. The second gives nuance by discussing testing accommodations for individuals with autism spectrum disorder to contextualize a subgroup of the disabled community within language testing. We hope that the information provided will encourage the language testing field to continue to consider the disabled community in the field’s efforts to advance equity through equitable assessment practices.

In this chapter, we introduce the principles and practices underlying qualitative methodologies (e.g., ethnography, case studies, action research) and qualitative methods (e.g., field observations, interviews) that are compatible with socioculturally-oriented SLA theories (e.g., language socialization, identity theory, Vygotskian sociocultural theory). We highlight the exploratory and interpretive nature of qualitative research in that it intends to explain phenomena through the experiences and perspectives of learners and teachers by providing rich descriptions of the learning and teaching contexts in which these learners and teachers are socially situated. Working on the premise that SLA theories need to be aligned with methodologies and research paradigms, we also explain and detail how these theories have been applied to better understand and conduct classroom-based research involving language learners and teachers. Further, we break down qualitative methodology into steps, outlining common methods and instruments used for collecting data, and highlighting ethical and procedural considerations associated with this research approach.

The multilingual turn in TESOL (May in The multilingual turn: implications for SLA, TESOL, and bilingual education. Routledge, New York, 2014) is overdue with the field still viewing languages as separate entities that exist in individuals (Deroo et al. in Envisioning TESOL through a translanguaging lens. Springer, New York, pp. 111–134, 2020). By contrast, bilingual education, which has embraced the notion of translanguaging (Flores and Aneja in Res Teach Engl 51:441–463, 2017; Henderson and Palmer in Dual language bilingual education: teacher cases and perspectives on large-scale implementation. Multilingual Matters, Bristol, 2020), and critical sociolinguistics (e.g., Canagarajah in Reclaiming the local in language policy and practice. Routledge, New York, 2005; De Costa in J Multiling Multicult Dev 40(5):453–460, 2019) have long called for a recognition of suppressed local and indigenous languages and the need to help minoritized language users reclaim their home languages. The education system in the United States has been complicit (De Costa and Qin in English language education in a global world: practices, issues and challenges. Nova Science Publishers, Hauppauge, 2016) in not providing adequate space for local and indigenous languages to develop in schools. Following a brief trace of how such inequalities characterized U.S. language education, we review recent English language redesign attempts to prepare linguistically responsive teachers (Lucas and Villegas in Theory Pract 52:98–109, 2013) to serve emerging bilinguals, focusing on the most recent bottom-up language policy initiative—the Seal of Biliteracy (SoBL). Although SoBL acknowledges multilingualism as a resource on a wide scale by providing opportunities to develop the home languages of emergent bilinguals, we discuss the challenges associated with the implementation of this initiative in the U.S. Following a critical evaluation of SOBL, we provide exemplars for TESOL practitioner-policymakers and join a growing body of educational linguists who view TESOL and multilingualism as collaborative endeavors in order to make this initiative a sustainable endeavor for TESOL professionals (Dorner and Cervantes-Soon in TESOL Q 54:535–547, 2020).

Methodological and theoretical innovations in second language (L2) narrative research have yielded helpful insights into L2 learning and teaching over the past four decades. However, with the creation of this vibrant line of inquiry, new ethical dilemmas have correspondingly emerged. These dilemmas threaten to violate the core ethical principles of (1) respect for persons, (2) yielding optimal benefits while minimizing harm, and (3) the preservation of justice. Building on recent ethics-inflected applied linguistics work that has distinguished between macroethics (pro-cedural ethics of review boards and professional codes of conduct) and microethics (everyday ethical dilemmas encountered in specific research contexts), we explore how ethical challenges have been negotiated by L2 narrative researchers. The article closes with suggested ethical measures that need to be taken in the future as researchers continue to refashion narrative inquiry to meet evolving intellectual demands.