Reflective Language Teaching: From Research to Practice

This is one of the most recent additions to the literature on reflective practice. The author is based in Canada, but also draws on his experience as a teacher and trainer in other contexts. The subtitle of the book raised an immediate question for me: Why would a book about teaching and for teachers use research as a point of departure? The first (and rather convoluted) sentence in the author's preface gives us a clue: Reflective Language Teaching is a book unique in existence because it presents up-to-date research on reflective language teaching and also presents case studies, most of which have been conducted by this author in collaboration with other language teachers, that illustrate topics covered in each chapter. (p. vi) This is quite a claim but it does provide a yardstick against which to assess the book's value to potential readers. It also hints at the approach taken to chapter design, which is based on a template leading from an introduction to research findings, followed by one or more case studies, a section entitled ‘From research to practice’, questions to reflect on, a conclusion followed, rather oddly, by a so-called ‘Chapter scenario’ and finally another set of questions. While the template lends structure to the book, it also becomes repetitive and predictable and does not always make for a smooth read.