Second language teacher education:: A review of the literature

During the past decade, an increasing number of publications have critically examined traditional views of second language teacher education and research and have called for a reconceptualization of the field (Freeman & Johnson, 1998; Freeman & Richards, 1996; Richards & Nunan, 1990; Schulz, 2000). The field has also recognized the need to establish standards for the content of language teacher education and outline its knowledge base so that new research avenues and effective teacher education models can be developed (Guntennann, 1993). This article attempts to delineate the "state of the art" of second language teacher education through a review of recent research and presents an overview of current perspectives on the field's knowledge base. The article concludes with a proposal for a reflective approach to the preparation of second language teachers that draws from the literature review.