The Status Quo of L2 vis-à-vis General Teacher Education

Overview & Synopsis

This manuscript examines the status of L2 teacher education research over the past 15 years from three perspectives. First, it examines the status of L2 teacher education research vis-à-vis general teacher education. Second, a common stereotype which considers teacher education as a Western phenomenon is challenged. Third, it investigates the extent to which different levels of education have benefited from relevant research. Data obtained from 176 research articles published from 2003 to 2018, showed that teacher education research is expectedly more nested within general education. Nevertheless, it was revealed that whereas general teacher education is more promulgated in Western contexts, L2 teacher education is more based in Asia-pacific contexts. Finally, higher education appears to be left out in both L2 and general teacher education research, as most studies focused on K-12. The results are believed to provide important implications for L2 teacher education researchers and practitioners.