Informing Language Teaching through Language Learning

Teacher development texts generally work from the assumption that teachers have a number of colleagues and mentors available to share ideas with and seek guidance from. While this might be so in the ESL context, EFL teachers working outside of their culture can be very isolated. This reflective article looks at some of the problem scenarios faced by one EFL teacher in pursuit of professional development and the dilemma over assumed contemporary teaching practices until finding a solution close at hand: using one's own concurrent language learning experiences to inform others of one's beliefs about teaching and learning. In the process, the relationship between teacher and learners changed dramatically. The practice of attending more consciously to one's own language learning experiences may help other teachers in making certain decisions in their practice.