This volume in the Language Teacher Research Series (Thomas S. C. Farrell, series editor) presents research conducted by language teachers at all levels, from high school English teachers to English language teacher educators, reflecting on their practices. The countries represented in this book are Brazil, Canada, Colombia, Costa Rica, Ecuador, Jamaica, and the United States. The teacher researchers who share their experiences in this volume show how language teachers can become empowered to examine their practices and reflect on ways to refine their approaches. As these professional educators strive to improve teaching and learning, their efforts take a variety of forms. The authors of "Language Teacher Research in the Americas" teach in many different contexts, whether they are in higher education, K-12 schools, or teacher education settings. In relation to their specific contexts, they analyze their teaching practices, reflect on their students' learning environments, and turn the lessons learned into practical instructional strategies that can foster growth-in teachers as well as students. Each author describes specific classroom experiences in the Americas and extracts a more broadly applicable analysis of how to improve student learning. Edited by Hedy M. McGarrell, "Language Teacher Research in the Americas" includes the following topics: (1) Recognizing sources of confusion and tapping students' strengths to promote vocabulary acquisition; (2) Exploring activities that prepare English learners for communication outside the classroom; (3) Gathering information from students, giving them choices, and adapting practices based on what is actually happening in the classroom; (4) Empowering students, through awareness and reflection, to use strategies to enhance their own learning; and (5) Promoting teacher reflection and collaborative problem solving. The studies presented in this volume show that when educators take an inquiry approach to language teaching, they can craft professional development that is personally meaningful and has lasting results for English language learners and teachers everywhere. Following an editor's preface, the contents of this book are as follows: Chapter 1: Language Teacher Research in the Americas (Hedy M. McGarrell); Chapter 2: Understanding Practices: Bridging the Gap Between What Teachers Do and What Students Know (Colombia) (Angela Bailey, Lourdes Rey, and Nayibe Rosado); Chapter 3: Revisiting Peer Review (Canada) (Sandra Burger and Catherine Danforth); Chapter 4: Film in the ESL Classroom: Hearing the Student's Voice (Canada) (Andy Curtis); Chapter 5: ESL Students as Ethnographers: Examining Academic Interactions (United States) (Maria Dantas-Whitney); Chapter 6: Studying Classroom Practices and Learner Perceptions to Improve Test Quality (Canada) (Wendy Fraser and Janna Fox); Chapter 7: Listening to Text and ESL Students: Facilitating Low-Frequency Vocabulary Acquisition Incidentally (United States) (Jami Gurkin); Chapter 8: Promoting Innovative Practices Through Reflective Collaboration (Brazil) (Andrea Jesus, Heliana Mello, and Deise Dutra); Chapter 9: Mi and Myself: Dual Identity in Jamaican Contact Language Speakers (Jamaica) (Mary Hills Kuck); Chapter 10: Local Cultures, Language Politics, and Service Learning in the TEFL Certificate Course (Ecuador) (Kathleen McInerney); Chapter 11: Finding and Leveraging Vocabulary Strengths While Addressing Needs (United States) (Elizabeth Park; Chapter 12: Are Nonnative Speakers Really Able to Converse? (United States) (Eliana Santana-Williamson); and Chapter 13: Learning How to Learn: Metacognitive Strategy Training With Beginning EFL Students (Costa Rica) (Sharon L. Springer). References and an index are also provided.