Abstract
The concept of agency has been central to language education. The educational goal that learners become capable of independent learning has had a profound impact on learner agency. Learner agency refers to a conscious initiative in learning taken by the learners, rather than the requirements that are imposed to the learners from the teacher, curriculum, and so forth (Biesta et al. in Teachers and Teaching: Theory and Practice 21(6):624–640, 2015). In our traditional teaching mode, most of the schools tend to cater for groups of learners with a one size fits all approach. Many students felt disenfranchised or became passive (Mercer in System 39(4):427–436, 2011). Exploring the issue of agency is important, following the continuous call for enhancing learners’ autonomous leaning and teachers’ capacity in taking control of their teaching. This chapter attempts to contribute to a fuller understanding of agency through exploring the components of teachers’ and learners’ agentic systems. This chapter also attempts to explore the complex components related to learner and teacher agency, which pose a challenge for educational theory as to how best language educators can use such insights to help teachers and students to become more effective in English language teaching and learning.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
References
Ahearn, L. M. (2001). Language and agency. Annual Review of Anthropology, 30, 109–137.
Allwright, D., & Hanks, J. (2009). The developing language learner: An introduction to exploratory practice. London: Palgrave Macmillan.
Bandura, A. (1989). Human agency in social cognitive theory. American Psychologist, 44(9), 1175–1184.
Bandura, A. (2008). Toward an agentic theory of the self. In H. W. Marsh, R. G. Craven & D. M. McInerney (Eds.), Self-processes, learning, and enabling human potential: Dynamic new approaches (pp. 15–49). Charlotte, NV: Information Age Publishing.
Biesta, G. (2015). How does a competent teacher become a good teacher? On judgement, wisdom and virtuosity in teaching and teacher education. In R. Heilbronn & L. Foreman-Peck (Eds.), Philosophical perspectives on the future of teacher education (pp. 3–22). Oxford: Wiley Blackwell.
Biesta, G., & Tedder, M. (2006). How is agency possible? Towards an ecological understanding of agency-as-achievement. Working paper 5, University of Exeter.
Biesta, G., Priestley, M., & Robinson, S. (2015). The role of beliefs in teacher agency. Teachers & Teaching: Theory & Practice, 21(6), 624–640.
Benson, P. (2001). Teaching and researching autonomy in language learning. Harlow: Pearson Education.
Biesta, G. J. J. (2010). Good education in an age of measurement: Ethics, politics, democracy. London: Paradigm Publishers.
Bown, J. (2009). Self-regulatory strategies and agency in self-instructed language learning: A situated view. The Modern Language Journal, 93 (4), 570–583.
Carter, B., & Sealey, A. (2000). Language, structure and agency: What can realist social theory offer to sociolinguistics? Journal of Sociolinguistics, 4, 3–20.
Donaldson, G. (2011). Teaching Scotland’s future. Edinburgh: Scottish Government.
Emirbayer, M., & Mische, A. (1998). What is agency? The American Journal of Sociology, 103, 962–1023.
Fullan, M. (2003). Change forces with a Vengeance. London: Routledge.
Funder, D. C. (2001). The really, really fundamental attribution error. Psychological Inquiry, 12, 21–23.
Gao, X. S. (2010). Strategic language learning: The roles of agency and context. Bristol: Multilingual Matters.
Giddens, A. (1984). The constitution of society. Berkeley and Los Angeles: University of California Press.
Huang, J. (2011). A dynamic account of autonomy, agency and identity in teaching English as a foreign language learning. In G. Murray, X. Gao, & T. Lamb (Eds.), Identity, motivation and autonomy: Exploring their links (pp. 229–246). Bristol: Multilingual Matters.
Huang, J., & Benson, P. (2013). Autonomy, agency and identity in foreign and second language education. Chinese Journal of Applied Linguistics, 36, 6–27.
Hillier, Y. (2012). Reflective teaching in further and adult education (3rd ed.). London: Continuum.
Kohonen, V. (2009). Autonomy, authenticity and agency in language education. In R. Jaatinen, V. Kohonen, & P. Moilanen (Eds.), Language education, teacher professionalism and intercultural agency (pp.12–38). Helsinki: OKKA Foundation.
Lantolf, J. P., & Pavlenko, A. (2001). Second language activity theory: Understanding second language learners as people. In M. P. Breen (Ed.), Learner contributions to language learning (pp. 141–158). Harlow: Pearson Education.
Lantolf, J. P. (2002). Sociocultural theory and second language acquisition. In R. B. Kaplan (Ed.), The Oxford handbook of applied linguistics (pp. 104–114). Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Lantolf, J. P., & Thorne, S. L. (2006). Sociocultural theory and the genesis of second language development. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Larsen-Freeman, D. (1997). Chaos/complexity science and second language acquisition. Applied Linguistics, 18(2), 141–165.
Larsen-Freeman, D., & Cameron, L. (2008). Complex systems and applied linguistics. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Lipponen, L., & Kumpulainen, K. (2011). Acting as accountable authors: Creating interactional spaces for agency work in teacher education. Teaching and Teacher Education, 27, 812–819.
McKay, S., & Wong, S.-L. (1996). Multiple discourses, multiple identities: Investment and agency in second-language learning among Chinese adolescent immigrant students. Harvard Educational Review, 66(3), 577–608.
Mercer, S. (2011). Understanding learner agency as a complex dynamic system. System, 39(4), 427–436.
Mercer, S. (2012). The complexity of learner agency. Apples-Journal of Applied Language Studies, 6(2), 41–59.
Morita, N. (2004). Negotiating participation and identity in second language academic communities. TESOL Quarterly, 38(4), 573–603.
Norton, B. (2000). Identity and language learning: Gender, ethnicity and educational change. London: Longman.
Norton, B., & Toohey, K. (2001). Changing perspectives on good language learners. TESOL Quarterly, 35(2), 307–322.
Ollerhead, S. (2010). Teacher agency and policy response in the adult ESL literacy classroom. TESOL Quarterly , 44(3), 606–618.
Pickering, A. (1995). The mangle of practice: Time, agency, and science. Chicago: University Chicago Press.
Priestley, M., Biesta, G., & Robinson, S. (2015). Teacher agency: What is it and why does it matter? In R. Kneyber & J. Evers (Eds.), Flip the system: Changing education from the bottom up (pp. 134–148). London: Routledge.
Pyhältö, K., Pietarinen, J., & Soini, T. (2014). Comprehensive school teachers’ professional agency in large-scale educational change. Journal of Educational Change, 15, 303–325.
Ray, J. M. (2009). A template analysis of teacher agency at an academically successful dual language school. Journal of Advanced Academics, 21, 110–141.
Roberts, J., & Graham, S. (2008). Agency and conformity in school-based teacher training. Teaching and Teacher Education, 24, 1401–1412.
Sugrue, C., & Dyrdal-Solbrekke, T. (2011). Professional responsibility: New horizons of praxis. New York: Routledge.
Taylor, C. (1985). Human agency and language (Philosophical papers I). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Ticknor, A. S. (2015). Critical considerations in becoming literacy educators: Pre-service teachers rehearsing agency and negotiating risk. Teaching Education, 26(4), 383–399.
van Lier, L. (2004). The ecology & semiotics of language learning. Dordrecht: Kluwer.
van Lier, L. (2008). Agency in the classroom. In J. P. Lantolf (Ed.), Sociocultural theory and the teaching of second languages (pp. 163–186). London: Equinox.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2019 Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd.
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Teng, (. (2019). The Complexities of Learner Agency and Teacher Agency in Foreign Language Education. In: Autonomy, Agency, and Identity in Teaching and Learning English as a Foreign Language. Springer, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-13-0728-7_5
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-13-0728-7_5
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, Singapore
Print ISBN: 978-981-13-0727-0
Online ISBN: 978-981-13-0728-7
eBook Packages: Social SciencesSocial Sciences (R0)