A systematic review of the teaching-research nexus in language teacher education

Abstract

The teaching-research nexus has recently drawn increasing scholarly attention in applied linguistics research in response to the disconnection between language research and classroom practice in language teaching. Adopting the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) as selection guidelines, we analyzed the current development of and strategies for the teaching-research nexus in 54 articles selected from 308 empirical and theoretical studies in Social Science Citation Index (SSCI) journals from 2013 to 2024. At the macro level, although policies advocate for the synergy of teaching and research, the top-down implementation of these policies failed to provide concrete support for practitioners and researchers. At the meso level, we examined the pivotal roles of institutional conditions in bridging the teaching-research nexus. At the micro level, we reviewed the positive characteristics of practitioners and researchers and their collaborative efforts to address challenges. The review argues for the need to conduct research and teaching in synergy and to examine how contexts may shape collaboration between researchers and practitioners. We propose a sustainable ecological framework for the teaching-research nexus and conclude with implications for future research on professional development strategies in language education.