A review of teacher language awareness (2015-2024): Current trends and future directions

Abstract

Teacher language awareness (TLA) encompasses language teachers’ competencies in using language, analyzing language, and teaching language (Lindahl, 2019). As these competencies directly influence how teachers teach language and the effectiveness of their instruction, TLA has garnered growing interest in recent years, resulting in an expanding body of research. Against this backdrop, this review first briefly clarifies the definitions and boundaries of TLA, highlighting the importance of integrating critical language awareness into TLA. It then analyzes the working mechanisms of TLA, followed by a selective review of empirical research (2015-2024) on the effect of TLA on teachers’ beliefs and practices, the current state of TLA, mediating factors, and the strategies for developing TLA. The review concludes by emphasizing the relevance of social and power dynamics in TLA and discussing current trends and future directions for TLA research.