Addressing Diversity in Language Teacher Education

Abstract

This chapter defines diversity with its relation to initial teacher education and discusses its significance for the pre-service teachers' practicum experience, which, in addition to the theoretical courses that might (and usually might not) address diversity, enables them to conceptualize the term. It also refers to teacher education systems in some European countries to present the ways in which diversity could be addressed in teacher education. The second half of the chapter presents a case study carried out in Turkey to illustrate how diversity is perceived from the views of teacher educators and pre-service teachers in the context of pre-service language teaching practicum. Though the case study is context-specific, the context bears similarities with many other teacher education environments offering suggestions, implications, and conclusions for initial language teacher education, policy development, and research.