Teacher Training Books

A few of you asked me for a bit more information about the teacher training books that are available. I hope this is helpful:

Two set texts that cover much of the theory of teacher training:

Roberts, J. (1998). Language Teacher Education. London: Arnold. (slightly more theoretical)

Wallace, M. (1991) Training Foreign Language Teachers. Cambridge University Press (slightly more practical)


Teacher training courses useful for initial teacher training (but also for some in-service training):

Doff, A. (1988). Teach English: A Training Course for Teachers. Cambridge University Press.

Gravestock, P., Gray, C., Klapper, J. and McCulloch, R. (2000). DOPLA Teacher Training Materials. Fund for the Development of Teaching and Learning.Harmer, J. (2007). The Practice of English Language Teaching. Longman.

Harmer, J. (2001). The Practice of English Language Teaching. London: Longman.

Thornbury, S. and Watkins, P. (2007). The CELTA Course, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Ur, P. (2011). A Course in Language Teaching. Cambridge University Press.

Classroom observation activities:

Lubelska, D. and Matthews, M. (1997). Looking at Language Classrooms. A Trainer’s Guide. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Wajnryb, R. (1992). Classroom Observation Tasks. A Resource Book for Teachers and Trainers. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press

Books containing teacher training and development activities for pre-service and in-service teachers

Parrott, M. (1993). Tasks for Language Teachers. A Resource Book for Training and Development, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Thain, C. (2011). Teacher Training Essentials. Workshops for Professional Development. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. (Photocopiable resources)

Thornbury, S. (1997). About Language: Tasks for Teachers of English. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Wallace, M. (1998). Action Research for Language Teachers, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Woodward, T. (1991). Models and Metaphors in Language Teacher Training, Loop Input and Other Strategies, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Woodward, T (2004). Ways of working with teachers, Tessa Woodward PublicationsWoodward, T. (2001). Planning Lessons and Courses. Designing Sequences of Work for the Language Classroom, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Books containing activities for mentoring teachers:

Malderez, A. and Bodoczky, C. (1999). Mentor Courses. A Resource Book for Teacher Trainers, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Randall, M. and Thornton, B. (2001). Advising and Supporting Teachers, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.


Academic articles on various aspects of teacher education:

Crandall, J. (2000). Language Teacher Education. Annual Review of Applied Linguistics 20: 34-55.

Freeman, D. and Johnson, K. (1998). Reconceptualising the knowledge-base of language teacher education. TESOL Quarterly 32 (3): 397-421.

Johnson, K. (2006). The sociocultural turn and its implications for language teacher education. TESOL Quarterly 40 (1): 235-259.

Littlemore, J. (2002). Setting up a course in ICT for language teachers: Some essential considerations. CALL-EJ-Online , 4, 1: http://www.clec.ritsumei.ac.jp/english/callejonline/7-1/contents4-1.html

Richards, J. (2010). Second Language Teacher Education Today. RELC Journal, 39, 2 158-177.


Authored books covering various aspects of teacher education theory:

Johnson, K. (2009). Second language Teacher Education. A Sociocultural Perspective, London: Routledge.

Kolb, D. (1984) Experiential Learning. Englewood Cliffs NJ: Prentice-Hall

Richards, J. (1998) Beyond Training. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press

Schon, D.A. (1983) The Reflective Practitioner: How Professionals Think in Action. Aldershot: Area Publishing.Senior, R. (2006). The Experience of Language Teaching, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Wenger, E. (1998). Communities of practice: Learning, Meaning and Identity. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.


Edited volumes covering various aspects of teacher training theory:

Edwards, C. and Willis, J. (2005). (Eds.) Teachers Exploring Tasks in English Language Teaching, Basingstoke: Palgrave MacMillan.

Freeman, D. and Richards, J. (1996). (Eds.) Teacher Learning in Language Teaching, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Gebhard, J. and Oprandy, R. (1999). (Eds.) Language Teaching Awareness, A Guide to Exploring Beliefs and Practices, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

James, P. (2001). (Ed) Teachers in Action. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.