ABSTRACT
This introductory chapter traces the genealogy of our rationale for the book and, more importantly, for the larger project of interrogating who we are as university language and culture teacher-researchers (ULTRs). This study is set against the backdrop of a field in transition and numerous scholarly calls for re-envisioning the critical, moral, ethical, political and ideological dimensions of language and culture education. The overarching aim of this study was to hold a space to listen to the unique voices of ULTR colleagues as we explored the chasms that exist between these advances, as expressed in the literature, and our own experience in the university language classroom and the current world of academe. Our study is therefore underpinned by the purposeful engagement with and articulation of our (professional) identities as we problematise, re-assess and re-envision our role in the world, both collectively – as a professional body – and as individuals, negotiating long-standing disciplinary hierarchies, institutional politics and the pedagogical choices we make every time we cross the threshold of the classroom. This chapter provides also a brief introduction to the context of our study and the colleagues that took part in it. The overarching methodological framework, rationale behind the main data collection tools (pen-portraits and semi-structured interviews) and justification of the analytical approach used in this study are also discussed in detail.
