The Multilingual Instructor

Claire Kramsch and Lihua Zhang use an ecological approach and a complexity thought model to examine the identities, experiences, and practices of foreign language teachers as native or non-native speakers, multilingual instructors, and professional educators. What is their sense of legitimacy? How do they bridge the historical and cultural gaps between them and their students? What stories do they share in the classroom? Which do they not share? How do they view their ethical responsibility? Drawing on primary research with teachers at the college level in the US, the book explores some of the key issues related to teaching languages in an era of increasing global mobility, institutional control, and educational uncertainty. “In this landmark publication, Kramsch and Zhang show us the challenges facing the multilingual instructor and the importance of understanding their experiences in order to improve the quality of teaching and learning as transformative practices. The ecological framework provides a very useful model for future studies, while the attention to the ethical role of the multilingual instructor is a timely reminder to us all.” Li Wei, Chair of Applied Linguistics, UCL Institute of Education, University College London Claire Kramsch is Emerita Professor of German and Professor of the Graduate School of Education at University of California, Berkeley Lihua Zhang is Lecturer of Chinese and Chinese Language Program Coordinator at University of California, Berkeley Oxford Applied Linguistics Series Advisers: Anne Burns and Diane Larsen-Freeman