Argues that student teacher portfolios are a viable, effective, appropriate tool for documenting teacher growth and development and for promoting reflective practice. Traces the unique paths of two pre-service foreign language teachers who constructed a professional identity from the historical and cultural conditions of their classroom…

The dominant approach to second language (L2) teacher education emphasizes reflection as a tool for helping teachers develop context-specific, personal theories of L2 teaching. Educators can facilitate reflection by involving teachers in action research. This small-scale study investigated whether carrying out action research as part of a graduate…

This longitudinal study focuses on how pedagogical content knowledge is initially represented and changes during the beginning teaching experiences of 9 teachers of French, German, and Spanish. The data consist of reflective journal entries, classroom observations, and focus group interviews collected during the first 2 years of foreign language…