Language Teachers at Work - Linking Materials with Classroom Teaching

This book examines a ubiquitous, yet under-researched, area of language education, i.e., language teachers' use of curriculum materials. It particularly focuses on EFL teachers' use of prescribed curriculum materials in higher education in Mainland China and presents a qualitative, multi-case study involving four Chinese EFL teachersand eight students (two students from each teacher's class) at one university in Mainland China. Drawing on data from pre-lesson and post-lesson interviews with the teachers, lesson observations, and documents in three consecutive semesters at the target university, the book delineates the processes of materials useinclassroom settings. It also identifies four domains of factors that influenced the enactment of curriculum materials. 

Most importantly, by adopting Vygotsky's (1978) mediation theory and Remillard's (2005) participatory perspective, the book constructs a 'curriculum enactment mediation model' to reveal the complex and mediated relations among teachers, learners, curriculum materials, and context. It also recommends practical implications for materials developers, teacher educators, administrators, and policymakers.

Dr. Zhan Li is a Senior Lecturer at the School of Foreign Languages, Zhongnan University of Economics and Law, Wuhan, China. She received her M.A. degree at the School of Education, Communication and Language Sciences, Newcastle University, U.K., in 2004, and her doctoral degreeat the Faculty of Education, the University of Hong Kong in 2016. Her research interests include English language teaching, curriculum development, professional development, and materials use. Her publications appear in both local and international journals and books. She is currently involved in two fundamental research projects for the Central Universities in China. From 2020 to 2021, she will be an academic visitor to Sheffield University in the U.K.