French-as-a-second-language (FSL) teacher candidates' French proficiency and confidence are key indicators of recruitment and retention of FSL teachers. This paper outlines a pilot project, the Conversation Club, that was used to address linguistic insecurity and proficiency in FSL teacher candidates at one university. The Conversation Club was a…

French as a second language (FSL) teachers in Canada face unique circumstances and challenges in the profession, from their initial teacher preparation into the beginning years of teaching and beyond. These challenges play a role in the long-standing FSL teacher shortage across Canada. To better understand the complexity and nuance of issues…

Canada is facing a nationwide shortage of teachers of French as a second language. The profession is experiencing significant retention issues, with many teachers leaving the field within the first five years. One of the solutions proposed to address the challenges of teacher retention is for post-secondary institutions to integrate the concept…

In applied linguistics, creativity has traditionally been conceptualized as an anthropocentric activity where semiotic resources are used as mediating tools to generate new meaning. This article challenges that view by exploring the non-representational forces that vitalize creativity to keep language moving in a theatre game played with…

The focus in this article is on international students at Canadian universities seeking graduate-level academic credentials in the teaching of English, and the pedagogies they produce within the relational contexts that they navigate. This article is animated with the material-discursive, human, and non-human assemblages and intensities that…

Research on computer-assisted language learning (CALL) and educational information/communication technology (ICT) often asks what a given technology is, what it can do, and what it is for. Answers to these questions, often following technological determinist or instrumental models of technology, centre human agency in determining the function a…

The field of language instruction is crucial in Canada, given the number of newcomers seeking to improve their English (or French) language skills after arrival. For those who plan to enter post-secondary education but do not meet required language proficiency scores, English for Academic Purposes (EAP) programs provide opportunities to strengthen…

The practice of English language teaching has long been an important part of socializing transnational migrants and international students into ongoing English-dominant settler-colonial projects in North America and beyond. The professional activities, knowledge, and identities of English language instructors are therefore central to the…

Assessment practices occupy a significant portion of ESL teachers' time and have a considerable impact on students' engagement and learning. These practices are in turn strongly influenced by teachers' conceptions of L2 writing and the policy contexts in which they work. While several studies have examined ESL teachers' classroom assessment…

This study investigates the impact of self-reported level of English language proficiency, Language Teacher Education (LTE) qualifications, linguistic identity (e.g., non-native English speakers), and teaching experience on English language teachers' self-efficacy beliefs. Drawing on data from English language teachers in Ontario, a newly formed…

Task-based language teaching (TBLT) is a pedagogical approach that involves identifying real-world tasks that learners need to be able to do in the target language and then developing classroom-appropriate, context-specific versions of these tasks. In this paper, we use Long's methodological principles for TBLT to evaluate a task-based approach…

This article presents an investigation of L2 pragmatic development by a group of 19 Chinese EFL teachers who participated in a five-month program in Canada (SA group). A written discourse-completion task (WDCT) was administered to assess participants' pragmatic knowledge of how to make requests in English. They also completed a paper-based…

Addressing race/racism and colonialism in French as a second language (FSL) education is essential to preparing culturally responsive teachers and meeting the Ministry mandate to teach students equitably and with respect. This article describes whether, and if so, how, candidates are being prepared to disrupt colonial ideologies and practices with…

This article puts forth new ways of thinking about "becoming multilingual" in transnational and contemporary times by investigating the significance of multilingualism for multilingual student teachers enrolled in French language teacher education programs within the provinces of Alberta and Ontario. As more diversity is present in…

Tracey Derwing and Ron Thomson reflect on the growth of Canadian L2 pronunciation research from the early 1990s onward. Although many phoneticians and language educators called for pronunciation instruction (PI) for decades, in the early 1980s little empirical research existed to inform pronunciation pedagogy, despite an influx of Vietnamese…