Language Teacher Education, Reading, and Curriculum Change in Southeast Asia: A Laotian Perspective

Abstract

This study was conducted to understand issues related to the current practice of English teacher education development in the Lao People’s Democratic Republic with a focus on reading. It recognizes that what pre-service teachers experience both prior to and during their teacher education are important and need to be understood if the goals of teacher education are to be achieved. Previous research found that pre-service teachers’ prior experiences of both reading and learning to read were mostly a matter of learning discrete language items rather than developing comprehension and critical reading, and that these experiences had shaped perceptions about how reading is taught. This study extends this understanding by investigating reading-related pedagogy on a teacher education programme. Its findings highlight a gap between an education policy that promotes communicative language teaching and classroom practice. Therefore, for the goals of policy to be realized in the language classroom, appropriate innovations are needed.