Beliefs, Agency and Identity in Foreign Language Learning and Teaching

Beliefs, Agency and Identity in Foreign Language Learning and Teaching explores the phenomena of believing (or giving personal meanings), acting, and identifying (or identity construction), and the interconnectedness of these phenomena in the learning and teaching of English and other foreign languages. The authors to take turns in reporting recent studies that are truly longitudinal in their research design, carried out from novel theoretical starting points and with innovation in data collection and analysis. The book contributes to a greater understanding of how learners go about learning and teachers about teaching foreign languages.

Paula Kalaja is Professor of English at the University of Jyvaskyla, 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 Vicosa, 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 Jyvaskyla, 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 Jyvaskyla, Finland. Her main areas of research include foreign language teachers' professional development, agency and identity as well as the development of teacher education.