Early-Career World Language Teachers’ Agency to Contextualize Language Instruction

The American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages and the Council for the Accreditation of Educator Preparation standards (2013) for teacher candidates guide planning for instruction but lack specificity regarding teaching methodologies and the selection of curricular materials. This qualitative case study examined four early-career world language teachers’ agency as they worked to contextualize language instruction during their first and second years of classroom teaching. Data were collected through semi-structured interviews at three points during the school years (middle, end, and start of the second year), and interview transcripts were analysed through the lens of language teacher agency. The findings show that the early-career teachers enacted agency through creating personalized curricula based on their students’ perceived needs. Furthermore, the teachers’ capacities to act were enabled by means of the autonomy they negotiated in their school contexts. The implications of this research highlight how educator preparation programs and school administrations can provide targeted supports for developing agentic world language teachers.