The knowledge base of language teachers

Language teachers' knowledge base is a relatively young notion in applied linguistics. Although the professional preparation of language teachers has traditionally drawn from disciplines such as linguistics, literature, cultural studies, education, and second language acquisition (SLA), it was not until Richards and Nunan's seminal 1990 publication of second language teacher education research that a more systematic inquiry was initiated into what language teachers need to know in order to do their job well. Critical to these debates was a shift in general teacher education research from the predominantly behaviorist and transmission‐oriented conceptions of teaching to a deeper appreciation of the less observable and multidimensional knowledge base of teaching. This entry reviews selected key themes that have since then continued to shape debates in this branch of applied linguistics, focusing on language teachers' knowledge of SLA, knowledge about language, teacher identity, and moral knowledge base. It concludes with proposals for the research domain's future agendas and methodological approaches which could contribute to producing a more compelling, robust, and locally appropriate evidence base and inspire a more widespread uptake of language teacher education practices that support the development of effective language education professionals.