LANGUAGE LEARNING AND TEACHER EDUCATION: A SOCIOCULTURAL APPROACH.
Margaret R. Hawkins (Ed.). Clevedon, UK: Multilingual Matters.
Pp. ix + 204. $89.95 cloth, $39.95 paper.
This book, according to the editor, “took shape from discussions
among language teacher educators” who were interested in
“reconceptualizing and redefining their practices” (p. 3) in
order to reflect a shift from viewing language learning as an object to be
dissected on paper to a view of language learning as discourses embedded
in and shaped by situated social situations. It was, therefore, not
surprising to discover that the chapters in this edited volume are all
framed within a common sociocultural perspective that views language not
as monolithic but as composed of many different social languages or
discourses. Traditionally, language instruction, whether it be the
teaching of traditional foreign languages, English as a foreign language
or English as a second language, has focused on teaching grammatical
structures and has been centered around teaching one correct form.