Beliefs, Agency and Identity in Foreign Language Learning and Teaching

Paula Kalaja is Professor of English at the University of Jyväskylä, Finland. She specializes in aspects of second language (L2) learning, including beliefs, attitudes, attributions, and aspects of L2 writing. She has co-authored and -edited a number of books including Beliefs about SLA: New Research Approaches (2003), Narratives of Learning and Teaching EFL (2008) and a number of textbooks.Ana Maria F. Barcelos is Associate Professor of English at the Federal University of Viçosa, Brazil. Her main interests include beliefs about language learning and teaching as related to emotions and identities. She has co-authored and -edited a number of books including Beliefs about SLA: New Research Approaches (2003) and Narratives of Learning and Teaching EFL (2008).Mari Aro has been Senior Researcher in the Department of Languages, University of Jyväskylä, Finland. Her main areas of research include learner beliefs and agency. With dialogism and the work of the Bakhtin Circle as her theoretical background, she focuses particularly on the notions of voice and authority.Maria Ruohotie-Lyhty is Postdoctoral Researcher in Language Pedagogy in the Department of Teacher Education, University of Jyväskylä, Finland. Her main areas of research include foreign language teachers' professional development, agency and identity as well as the development of teacher education.

“This is when the uniqueness and methodological rigor of the research studies recounted in the book come into view. … this book is insightful, enlightening, and enjoyable and recommended reading for every language learning and teaching program’s library.” (Melanie Taylor Gobert, Independence, February – March, 2019)​

• INTRODUCTION 1. The Book in a Nutshell 2. Key Issues Relevant to the Studies to Be Reported: Beliefs, Agency and Identity PART I - LEARNING ENGLISH AS A FOREIGN LANGUAGE: FROM SCHOOL CHILDREN TO YOUNG ADULTS 3. Authority Versus Experience: Dialogues on Learner Beliefs; Mari Aro 4. In Action and Inaction: English Learners Authoring Their Agency; Mari Aro PART II - STUDYING FOREIGN LANGUAGES: FROM FIRST-YEAR UNIVERSITY STUDENTS TO GRADUATES 5. Student Teachers' Beliefs and Motivation, and the Shaping of Their Professional Identities; Ana Maria F. Barcelos 6. Student Teachers' Beliefs about L1 And L2 Discursively Constructed: A Longitudinal Study of Interpretative Repertoires; Paula Kalaja 7. 'Dreaming Is Believing': The Teaching of Foreign Languages as Envisioned by Student Teachers; Paula Kalaja PART III - TEACHING FOREIGN LANGUAGES: FROM NOVICE TEACHERS TO EXPERIENCED PROFESSIONALS 8. Dependent or Independent: The Construction of the Beliefs of Newly Qualified Foreign Language Teachers; Maria Ruohotie-Lyhty 9. Stories of Change and Continuity: Understanding the Development of the Identities of Foreign Language Teachers; Maria Ruohotie-Lyhty Conclusion 10. Comparing and Contrasting the Studies Reported: Lessons Learnt