Teacher Language Awareness Development and Its Implications for New Educators

The purpose of this qualitative study is to investigate how new educators respond to pedagogical tasks that require them to use and reflect upon their Teacher Language Awareness (TLA). TLA is defined as a teacher’s ability to use, analyze, and teach language—an increasingly important part of teachers’ knowledge base given high numbers of English Learners (ELs) in K–12 schools. Via constant comparative analysis of 116 preservice teachers’ qualitative reflections, mostly negative themes emerge, such as feeling inadequately prepared, equating language with intellect, and misunderstanding being a “native speaker.” These indicate that additional exploration of the ways TLA is developed in new educators is necessary.