Research Informing Practice-Practice Informing Research

“Research Informing Practice―Practice Informing Research: Innovative Teaching Methodologies for World Language Educators” is an edited volume that focuses on innovative, nontraditional methods of teaching and learning world languages. Using teacher-research projects, each author in the volume guides readers through their own personal journey and exploration of teaching methods, novelty, risk-taking, and reflection. Chapters include guiding questions, vignettes, and thick descriptions of classroom-based research in an assortment of instructional settings. Theoretical issues and an array of practical applications are presented, as well as additional research opportunities and guidelines for implementation in a variety of teaching and learning venues.

While not professing to be a panacea for world language learning, this book provides various lines of theory, research, and practice as they interact with each other through teacher-research narratives. As a well-known African proverb asserts, “It takes a village to raise a child.” Similarly, it takes a village to develop a master teacher, and it takes a community to create an exceptional classroom. Throughout this volume, authors share their voices, experiences, and expertise as a means of strengthening the village. They then invite readers to embark on their own methodological journeys. The text thus serves as a stimulus for further discussion and pedagogical development in world language settings. Teachers and researchers are challenged to think critically and reflectively about world language education, encouraged to design innovative methods, approaches, and techniques for their world language classes, and ultimately asked to share their findings with students, parents, peers, communities, and the village.

Born in Buenos Aires, Argentina, David Schwarzer immigrated to Israel at the age of seventeen to pursue his B.A. and M.A. in counseling and literacy education, and later earned his Ph.D. in Language, Reading, and Culture at the University of Arizona. He now works as an assistant professor in multilingual studies at the University of Texas in Austin. David is married to Taly and together they have three multilingual children: Noa, Ariel, and Tamar.