ABSTRACT TESOL educators have access to diverse didactic resources, including popular music and songwriting, which can be especially effective tools for writing instruction. This conceptual article explores the use of sones—the song verses of son jarocho, a folkloric regional music genre from southeastern Mexico—as a medium for poetic (re)writing, reflection, and social critique in the TESOL classroom. The improvisational tradition of son jarocho allows language‐minoritized students to creatively reinterpret the genre by emphasizing individual experience and dynamic expression. We focus on the Chicane/x band, Las Cafeteras, and their (re)interpretation of the centuries‐old son (son jarocho song), “Señor Presidente/Mr. President” as a catalyst for son jarocho‐based writing practices. We highlight this Mexican musical tradition as a resource for teachers to foster creativity and criticality in TESOL classrooms. Co‐authored with Las Cafeteras lead singer‐songwriter, Denise Carlos, this article theorizes son jarocho as a powerful tool for cultivating creativity and critical literacy while envisioning more equitable futures for immigrants and racialized multilingual communities.

ABSTRACT Reflective practice (RP) is essential to teacher identity development, yet the reflective practitioner identity (RPI) of language teacher educators (LTEs) who prepare reflective language teachers remains understudied. To address this gap, the study explored the construction of an RPI (i.e., RP attributes and actions) of two LTEs working within TESOL contexts. This qualitative case study drew on the concepts of reflection‐for‐action and on‐action. It was underpinned by activity theory, particularly the concept of identity‐in‐activity, which views identity development as originating in the contextual settings of activity where contradictions occur and drive innovative actions. Data included three individual interviews with each participant, as well as relevant policy documents and teaching artifacts. Analysis revealed that both LTEs constructed their RPI by negotiating contradictions within the activity system (i.e., within Subject, within Rules, Subject vs. Community, Instruments vs. Rules, and Instruments vs. Object). Through the relatively underexplored application of activity theory in this area of research, the study contributes new insights into LTEs' RPI that can inform the development of reflective LTEs in TESOL. It highlights the role of a reflective educational philosophy, shared community values, teacher agency, and professional networks in facilitating contradiction resolution in this development process. However, the presence of unresolved contradictions suggests a need for policies that establish clear requirements for LTEs to engage in RP while also ensuring they have sufficient opportunities and support to do so. This study offers insights into ways to foster LTEs' RPI and recommends areas for further research.

ABSTRACT This qualitative study explores how student teachers experienced that improvisation activities facilitated spontaneous speech practice in EFL classrooms. During school practicums in Norwegian schools, pre‐service and in‐service student teachers reflected in trial logs before, during and after the trials in grades 5 to 10. These logs were analyzed based on a phenomenological perspective. We found that the improvisation activities enabled spontaneous speech practice well through the facilitative components playful pressure to contribute, engagement, enjoyment, and collaboration which resulted in the Spontaneous Speech Facilitation Model. Pupils' willingness to communicate seemingly increased as they were seen to take greater linguistic and creative risks when being playfully forced to go beyond their comfort zones together, also for reluctant speakers. We conclude that improvisation activities provide an engaging method for spontaneous speech practice with the aim of facilitating a communicative EFL practice. The improvisation activities seem to have supported the development of speaking confidence. These findings encourage further exploration and incorporation of improvisation activities in EFL teacher education.

ABSTRACT Responding to recent calls to situate language learning strategy (LLS) research in contexts, this study examined contextual factors that influence LLS use in two distinct learning environments: a target language environment (TLE) and a foreign language environment (FLE). Nineteen doctoral students from universities in the United States and China participated. Data were collected through a background survey and semi‐structured interviews. Analysis identified eight contextual factors that influenced learners' strategy choices across the two environments: access to the target language environment, participation in academic settings, availability of target‐language learning resources, experiences as teaching or research assistants, exposure to diverse accents and dialects, experiences in target language classes, social reactions to speaking the target language, and limited feedback on errors. These findings contribute to LLS research by underscoring the central role of learning context in influencing strategy use. More importantly, they offer insights into fostering more effective strategy use and improving language learning outcomes. Pedagogical implications are also discussed.

ABSTRACT This article presents a practical and accessible framework for the articulation and implementation of content, language, and biliteracy objectives in K‐12 English‐medium instruction (EMI) content‐area classrooms. Grounded in work with pre‐ and in‐service teachers pursuing a TESOL endorsement in New Mexico, the framework guides educators in developing both general and specific language objectives, which ultimately scaffold toward the formulation of translanguaging goals—referred to here as biliteracy objectives. The manuscript emerges in response to teachers' requests for a manageable professional development tool that can be shared with K‐12 colleagues and administrators to support the integration of translanguaging approaches across all content‐area classrooms.

ABSTRACT This article describes the development and validation of a new observation instrument, the Scaffolding Observation Protocol for Multilingual Learners (SCOPE‐ML), designed to assess instructional changes resulting from two NPD projects at the University of Cincinnati. These projects focused on TESOL endorsement coursework and professional development for teachers of multilingual learners. The instrument was developed to measure differences in teaching practices between treatment and control groups in randomized controlled trials (RCTs), offering potential evidence of the effectiveness of the NPD interventions. The first project's treatment involved completion of the university's TESOL endorsement sequence, with participants recruited from upper elementary and secondary schools. The second project included two treatment conditions: (1) TESOL coursework and (2) completion of online modules with coaching and community of practice—with participants who taught in early elementary contexts. Development of the SCOPE‐ML followed a rigorous, rapid process—literature review, conceptualization, item drafting, revision, pilot testing, and initial research use—guided by a pedagogical stance grounded in scaffolding, understood as the systematic support of student learning through responsive, asset‐oriented instructional practice. This process produced evidence of high inter‐rater reliability (percentage agreement and Cohen's kappa) and face validity (via peer debriefing and feedback). The study highlights the crucial role of teacher–student and peer interactions in fostering multilingual learners' literacy development and underscores the need for ongoing refinement of teaching practices for this population.

ABSTRACT EFL initial teacher education (ITE) cannot be detached from social diversity and the inequalities faced by students. To explore the possibilities of EFL ITE from a social justice approach, this qualitative study investigated the ideological positioning of 266 EFL preservice teachers and explored the rationales underneath a resulting ideological hybridity. Results show a predominance of the learner‐centered ideology; however, this perspective was often tied to the social reconstructionist ideology (hybridity). To delve into this phenomenon, this paper presents a narrative analysis of interviews with 4 participants who interrelate these ideologies. This shows that their ideological positioning and views on social justice issues come from their understanding of teaching practices as actions that can potentially address sociocultural inequalities that they have personally experienced or observed. The article underlines the formative potential of identifying preservice teachers' ideological positioning (and hybridity), closing with implications for EFL ITE aiming to contribute to social justice.

ABSTRACT Cultivating an anti‐racist praxis necessitates English language educators placing a paramount awareness of their racial identity development. This autoethnography explores how my ongoing racial identity development has informed my critical racial praxis. Having grown up among ethnically and religiously dominant groups (i.e., Turkish, Sunni) in Türkiye, I have internalized multifaceted overt and/or covert forms of personal, institutional, and epistemological racism. Transnationally, however, I have been racialized as a non‐native‐English language (teacher) educator of color. In this autoethnography, I unveil the interplay between the privileged and marginalized parts of my identity in the national and transnational context. As a mid‐career woman critical language teacher educator working at a public university in Türkiye, I work in a sociocultural climate dominated by authoritarian neoliberalism. Despite experiencing tensions in enacting my agency, I engage in critical racial praxis, benefiting from the relatively democratic atmosphere of my university. My critical praxis has three pillars: critical reflection, dialogic relationship‐building, and critical action. Analysis of my narratives indicates an intricate relationship between my identity, agency, and praxis, encouraging teacher candidates to adopt teacher identity as a transformative intellectual.