Considering Diversity in L2 Teacher Education

This chapter presents a discussion of how teacher candidates can develop an awareness of linguistic and cultural diversity and supports students of diverse backgrounds in second language (L2) teaching. Buoyed with a narrative inquiry involving 17 L2 teachers at one independent secondary school in the Northeastern United States, Geneva Gay's culturally responsive teaching is recast, integrating cultural, racial, and ethnic diversity in L2 curricula. Although many teacher participants reported incorporating student background as a resource in informal ways, few teachers (3 of 17) reported formally integrating activities into L2 curricula that supported students in this way. This finding suggests that knowledge of the relevance of student diversity as a resource may also be underrepresented in L2 practices, and implications for L2 teaching and teacher candidates are discussed. Following this examination, the chapter offers a guiding activity that teacher candidates can develop to explore diversity and inform teaching practices.