English Language Teacher Education with an Eco‐Social Perspective: An Exploratory Study

Abstract

The importance of a critical and eco-socially conscious English language teacher education in Europe is considered in this study. Information is collected through a survey to assess the working practice of various teachers and their perceptions of English language teaching under an eco-social lens. New avenues are then suggested to build a comprehensive eco-social language teacher education program. Based on the survey responses of the different stakeholders participating in English language teacher education, our case study yielded a survey-based assessment of knowledge and familiarity with eco-social issues. Weaknesses relating to language teacher education with an eco-social perspective were detected and positive measures and strategies singled out, so as to design a language teacher education program with an eco-social perspective. In all, 345 responses collected in various European countries amassed data that reflected a positive attitude toward eco-social values among all the stakeholders within English language teacher education, mainly based on personal interests rather than collegial educational regulation. The need for the homogenization of existing resources and the regulation of education corpora was a common demand. Despite the limited scope of the survey, the results and the discussion presented in this paper offer a baseline study and a starting point to outline a fuller picture of the relation between English language teacher education and eco-social commitments.