Contextualizing and Adapting Teacher Education and Professional Development

Abstract

In the past two decades, the influence of computer-assisted language learning (CALL) in language teaching has significantly expanded. In parallel with this trend, the preparation and professional development of teachers in the domain of CALL knowledge and skills have similarly grown. As with so many other areas of language teaching, this growth has been most visible in mainstream literature centered on settings in the US, the UK, and a few other developed countries. In line with the theme of this book, I provide a foundation for shifting that focus toward the teaching and learning contexts of the broader world, the under-represented contexts, to support the adaptation and creation of locally appropriate teacher education and professional development initiatives. I begin with a brief review of the history of teacher training in CALL, focusing on useful concepts and frameworks. I then introduce the TESOL Technology Standards for Teachers (TTST) as a target for language teachers (TESOL, 2008; Healey et al., 2011). Importantly, the TTST were designed from the onset to be relevant internationally and flexible enough to be applied to low, mid, and high-technology resource environments. I will argue that by using the TTST as a guide, teacher educators can localize them to align with the curricular goals, teaching realities, and technologies available to teachers and their students. I conclude with an example of how I adapted one aspect of the TTST to fit the specific context of my own CALL course. Overall, the goal is to set the stage for readers of the rest of this volume to find inspiration there in the voices of pre-service and in-service teachers, teacher educators, and researchers that resonate with their own contexts and experiences.