Language Identity, Learning, and Teaching in Costa Rica

This edited collection provides a comprehensive and locally situated understanding of English language teaching from the perspective of dedicated and experienced language professionals and researchers in Costa Rica. The book uses a series of reflective sections that interconnect theory and practice in a non-English-dominant context in order to inform and transform pedagogical practices. The chapters depict a wide-ranging image of English language teaching and learning in the region, encouraging in-service teachers, TESOL specialists, and ELT scholars to critically reassess, rethink, and relearn teaching and learning as more than a political decision in an educational curriculum. Ultimately promoting the practice as dynamic, ever-changing, and culturally situated, the book will be highly relevant to researchers, academics, scholars, and faculty in the fields of teacher education, educational research, EFL, and modern foreign languages.

Lena Barrantes-Elizondo is a Professor of TESOL (Teaching English to Speakers or Other Languages), Universidad Nacional, Sede Regional Brunca, Costa Rica. Cinthya Olivares-Garita is a Professor of TESOL (Teaching English to Speakers or Other Languages), Universidad Nacional, Sede Regional Brunca, Costa Rica, and a student in the Doctor of Education in TESOL program, the Graduate School of Education, Anaheim University, USA.

Introduction: A Historical Review of English Teaching in Costa Rica Part I: Context, Culture, and Identity 1. Challenging Language Ideologies in the Global South: EFL Teacher Education as a Critical Site 2. EFL Teaching: A(nother) Chiaroscuro in and Beyond the Modern Nation-State: The Case of Costa Rica 3. The Need for a Critical Perspective Into the Teaching of English for Occupational Purposes Part II: Language Learning 4. Language Learning Strategies in TEFL: Balancing Theory and Student Instinct 5. Metacognition in Listening: Tasks That Foster Metacognitive Skills 6. Learner Empowerment: Reconceptualizing the English Language Learner Through a More Humanistic and Critical Lens 7. Integrating Technology in the EFL Classroom: Moving Towards a Student-Centered Approach Part III: Language Teaching 8. Professional Agency and Identity of English Language Teachers in Costa Rica: A Call for Decolonizing Action 9. Professional Growth: A Reflective and Motivational Practice Toward an Endless Journey in Education 10. Designing Digital Multimodal Narratives in EFL Teacher Education