This book brings together studies from Georgia, Germany, Italy, Japan, New Zealand, Poland, South Korea, and the UK which explore links between policy and practice in language teaching in the twentieth century. The 14 contributions set out to expand the remit of ‘grounded history’ within the field of History of Language Learning and Teaching (HoLLT) by focusing on language teaching policies and linking these to practices and to contexts, situating policy formulation in particular contexts on the one hand, and exploring the relationship between policy and practice on the other. In this sense, the book shows how the theories, policy pronouncements, curricula, textbooks, and overall teaching approaches which tend to feature in most histories of language teaching always emerge from particular, researchable contexts, and, in the other direction, are interpreted and responded to in practice, again, in particular contexts. In this way, it hopes to contribute a context-based perspective that highlights diversity of practices, in opposition to received views that language teaching methodology is ‘universal’ and context-free.
Sabine Doff has been Full Professor of English Language Education at the Department of Language and Literary Studies, University of Bremen, Germany since 2009. Her main interests cover the historiography of language education in and beyond Europe, curriculum studies, culture and cultural learning in the language classroom, inclusive language education and content and language integrated learning. Richard Smith is a Professor of English Language Teaching and Applied Linguistics at the University of Warwick, UK. He is the founder and joint coordinator of the International Association of Applied Linguistics (AILA) Research Network on History of Language Learning and Teaching, and he has published widely in this field (including, with N. Mclelland, The History of Language Learning and Teaching (3 volumes, Legenda, 2018) and, with T. Giesler, Innovation in Language Learning and Teaching: Historical Perspectives (Benjamins, in press). Norman Ächtler works as lecturer (Akademischer Rat) at the Justus-Liebig_x0002_University in Gießen. He teaches Modern German Literature and Media Studies/Literature and Media Didactics. Recent publications include: Ächtler, Norman (ed.), Schulprogramme Höherer Lehranstalten―Interdisziplinäre Perspektiven auf eine wiederentdeckte bildungs- und kulturwissenschftliche Quellengattung (Hannover: Wehrhahn, 2020); Ächtler, Norman et al. (ed.), Generationalität―Gesellschaft―Geschichte: Schnittfelder in den deutschsprachigen Literatur- und Mediensystemen nach 1945. Festschrift für Carsten Gansel (Berlin: Verbrecher Verlag, 2021). Tim Giesler has been a lecturer for English language education since 2010. His main research interest is the historiography of language teaching in institutional context, a field in which he earned his PhD. Before 2010, he was a teacher of (mainly) English, history, and political education at several northern German schools. Stefan Kipf (born 1964) studied classical philology in Berlin (Freie Univer_x0002_sität) and Austin, TX, USA (1983–1990), and received his doctorate at the FU with a thesis on Herodotus as a school author. In 2005, he habilitated there with a study on the history of teaching classical languages in West Germany from 1945 to 2000. Since 2006, he has served as professor of Didactics of Greek and Latin at the Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin (HU); among other things, he was chairman of the German Association of Classical Philologists (2007–2011) and founding director of the Professional School of Education of the HU (2011–2016). He is currently dean of the faculty of Linguistics and Literary Studies. Irmina Kotlarska is assistant professor in the Linguistics Department of the Institute of Polish Philology of the University of Zielona Góra. Her research interests are sociolinguistics, educational discourse, Polish-English language contacts, the history of teaching English in Poland, and textbook analysis. She is the author of the monograph The intentionality of the statements in ‘Home Teacher’s Diary’ (1814–1823) by Julian Antonowicz in the light of pragmatic and lexical analysis. Joanna Pfingsthorn is a researcher in the department of Foreign Language Education at the University of Bremen. Her main research interest is the intersection of inclusive education and foreign language teaching. She holds a PhD in Foreign Language Education from the University of Oldenburg, a M.Sc. in Cognitive Science from the University of Amsterdam, and a BA in Psychology from Jacobs University Bremen. Laura Pinnavaia (PhD) is full professor of English Language and Linguistics at the University of Milan (Italy). Her research interests in lexicology and lexicography have produced over forty articles and three authored mono_x0002_graphs: The Italian Borrowings in the OED: A Lexicographic, Linguistic and Cultural Analysis (2001); Introduzione alla Linguistica Inglese (2015); Food and Drink Idioms in English: “A Little Bit More Sugar and Lots of Spice” (2018). She is currently working on seventeenth-century travelogues and the history of writing instruction for mother tongue speakers of English. Annalisa Zanola (PhD) is full professor of English Language and Linguistics, director of the Language Teaching Centre, and Rector’s Delegate for Language Teaching and Training at the University of Brescia (Italy). She represents her university at the European Language Council (ELC) meetings. Her current research interests include the epistemology of English phonetics and phonology and the most recent trends in public speaking and academic writing, English as an international language, and international English in business and health communication. She is a member of the board of the international doctoral program in Euro(pean)-Languages and Specialized Terminologies at the University of Naples Parthenope (Italy), in collaboration with Université d’Artois, Arras (France). Silvia Pireddu received an MA in Modern Foreign Languages and Literature from Università degli Studi di Pavia (Italy), specializing in History of the English Language. She holds a PhD in English and American Cultures from IULM University, Milan, and worked with post-doctoral grants at Università degli Studi di Pavia on the history of translation. From 2005 to 2017, she taught seminars and courses at IULM and Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore, Milan. At present, she is an associate professor of English Language and Linguistics at Università di Torino. Her research interests include diachronic linguistics, the history of language learning and teaching, the history of translation, and stylistics, with special reference to the intersection of discourse, texts, and culture. Sabine Reh studied German literature and history, passed the state examina_x0002_tions for the teaching profession at grammar schools, and obtained her doctor_x0002_ate in Hamburg. After professorships in Freiburg, Münster, and Berlin, she is now Professor for the History of Education at the Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, heads the Research Library for the History of Education, and is Deputy Executive Director of the DIPF Leibniz Institute for Educational Research and Information. Her research focuses on the history of school and teaching practices, especially of German literature, and the history of pedagogical knowledge in Germany after 1945. Recent publications include: Sabine Reh et al. (eds) (2021): Schülerauslese, schulische Beurteilung und Schülertests 1880–1980 (Bad Heilbrunn: Klinkhardt, 2021); Sabine Reh & Britta Eiben-Zach (2021): ‘Das Bewerten von Literatur. Literarische Normen im fachdidaktischen Diskurs und in Abituraufsätzen der 1960er Jahre’, in: Lydia Brenz et al. (eds.), Normativität und literarisches Verstehen (Berlin et al.: Peter Lang, 2021), 175–196. Shona Whyte is professor of English at the Université Côté d’Azur where she teaches English as a foreign language (EFL), translation, second language learning and teaching, and applied linguistics.Her research interests include CALL (computer-assisted language learning), particularly classroom interaction and teacher integration of technologies, and she has participated in European projects on interactive language teaching with a variety of technologies. She has also published on teaching English for specific purposes (ESP) and co-founded a special interest group on language teacher education research (ESP didactics) within GERAS, the French scholarly society for ESP. Books include New Developments in ESP teaching and learning research (co-edited with Cédric Sarré, 2018); and Implementing and researching tech_x0002_nological innovation in language teaching: The case of interactive whiteboards for EFL in French schools (Palgrave 2015). She blogs on topics related to language research and teaching at shonawhyte.wordpress.com. Sharon Harvey recently joined the School of Education at Auckland University of Technology (AUT) as Associate Professor. From 2008–2019, she was Head of the School of Language and Culture at AUT, as well as Deputy Dean (Research) of the Faculty of Culture and Society. Sharon initiated and co-wrote the 2013 Royal Society of New Zealand paper Languages of Aotearoa New Zealand. The paper highlighted the plight of te reo M?ori, as well as Pacific and other minority languages in Aotearoa. It also explained the educational achievement benefits that would accrue to students if they were able to maintain and extend their languages within the New Zealand education system. Sharon’s wider research and supervisory interests are focussed on language policy and planning and how this translates to practice, particularly in the education sector. Sharon has led several Ministry of Education evaluations of language teaching and learning in schools. Ekaterine Shaverdashvili is professor of Education at Ilia State University, Georgia, and the head of the Research Centre for Innovative Education. She is the author of three monographs and more than thirty-five scientific articles. Her research interests include language policy, didactics of foreign and second language, and the history of foreign language learning and teaching. Nino Chkhikvadze is a PhD candidate at Ilia State University, Georgia. The topic of her PhD is the historical research of English as a foreign language learning and teaching. Her research interests include FL acquisition, English language policy/practice, and didactics in the Soviet Union. Kohei Uchimaru is an associate professor in the faculty of Literature and Human Sciences at Osaka Metropolitan University. His recent articles include: ‘“Wisely, and slow. They stumble that run fast”: Learner-Friendly Shakespeare in an EFL Classroom’ in Early Modern Culture Online 7 (2019); ‘Education through the Study of English: Yoshisaburô Okakura as a Conserva_x0002_tive Reformer’ in Language & History 62.2 (2019); and ‘Teaching Shakespeare in Early Twentieth-Century Japan: A Study of King Lear in Locally Produced EFL School Readers’ in Shakespeare Studies 56 (2018). He guest-edited Teach_x0002_ing Shakespeare 16 (British Shakespeare Association, 2018) and co-authored Shakespeare in East Asian Education (Palgrave, 2021). John Daniels worked for thirty–five years as a language teacher in a Nortumberland middle school from 1971–2007 and for six years as headteacher. A concern to understand the development of language skills during a series of annual intensive programmes working with pupils aged 12 to 13 led to research at the School of Education at Durham University working with Professor Mike Byram and to an MA (1999) and PhD (2009). The research identified the concept of ‘vocabulary dormancy’, where the catalyst of the intensive experience led to words becoming activated that were only partially known through classroom learning. Since retiring in 2007, John has had time to reflect on his experiences as a middle school language teacher and a year working in a French college. He has produced a number of articles on this time, particularly on the intensive language initiatives which provided an important supplement to classroom based learning. His ambition is to write a book on language teaching based on this experience. He feels he owes the present generation of language teachers the chance to appreciate the potential of developing active language skills among their students, through intensive language work outside the classroom. Robert J. Fouser holds a PhD in applied linguistics from Trinity College, Dublin and an MA in applied linguistics, and a BA in Japanese language and literature, both from the University of Michigan. He has lectured on Korean language education at Seoul National University and, before that, on foreign language education at Kyoto University. He also developed the Korean language program at Kagoshima University in Japan. His early research interests were the learning of third languages (L3), particularly from a sociolinguistic perspective. During his years in Japan and Korea, he also researched e-learning and mobile learning applications in language teaching with a focus on English and Korean. His recent research interest is the influence of social context on the history of second language learning and teaching. He is also the author of Oegugeo Jeonpadam (“The Spread of Foreign Languages”, 2018), a history of foreign language learning and teaching that he wrote in Korean for general readership. He is currently based in Providence, Rhode Island as an independent scholar.
