One of the simple facts of life in the present time is that the English language skills of a good proportion of its citizenry are seen as vital if a country is to participate actively in the global economy and to have access to the information and knowledge that provide the basis for both social and economic development. Central to this enterprise are English teaching and English language teachers. There is consequently increasing demand worldwide for competent English teachers and for more effective approaches to their preparation and professional development.

This book brings together key issues and debates in teacher education for language teachers. To provide an orientation to and overview of the book in this section, we will examine the major trends in second language teacher education today and identify some of the key issues that are shaping the way second language teacher education (SLTE) is currently conceptualized and realized.

The field of SLTE has been shaped in its development by its response to two issues. One might be called internally initiated change, that is, the teaching profession gradually evolving a changed understanding of its own essential knowledge base and associated instructional practices through the efforts of applied linguists and specialists in the field of second language teaching and teacher education. Much of the debate and discussion featured in the professional literature in recent years and in this volume, for example, is an entirely internal debate, unlikely to interest those outside the walls of academic institutions. The emergence of such issues as reflective practice (Chapter 30, Burton), critical pedagogy (Chapter 3, Hawkins and Norton), knowledge about language (Chapter 12, Bartels) and teacher identity (Chapter 17, Miller), for example, arose from within the profession largely as a result of self-imposed initiatives.

At the same time, the development of SLTE has also been impacted by external pressures, for example, by globalization and the need for English as a language of international trade and communication, which has brought with it the demand by national educational authorities for new language teaching policies, for greater central control over teaching and teacher education, and for standards and other forms of accountability (see Sections 1 and 2).