R-A Introduction

The introductory section talks about the two sources from which the book draws. The first is second language acquisition theory and the second is critical pedagogy, or the idea that students should not be seen as empty heads waiting to be filled with ideas from the teacher, but rather as beings capable of taking on an active role in their own learning. The author extends this idea of critical pedagogy to teacher education students and advocates a participatory teacher education, where students are encoraged to reflect on what they are learning. When I wrote an essay last year about ESL instruction, I remember reading that in years past non native speakers were looked down upon in the teaching field, so that helps me understand the author's need for addressing the issue in the introduction.