ABSTRACT
The story of my own “self” development in SLA refl ects many of the dilemmas and issues that researching in this fi eld presents. My roots and heart remain those of an EFL teacher and this link to the classroom has been a defi ning feature of my professional self and work. As my own career has seen me move away from actual language teaching and into the domains of language teacher training and academic research, I fi nd myself continually challenged by my perceptions of the dual responsibilities of researcher and practitioner. My personal take on this has been that I appreciate that both have distinct expectations placed on them in terms of their professional output and responsibilities, but I feel there should also be some connection between the two-ideally, in both directions. As will be seen, this need to connect my research and practice has defi ned the kinds of studies I conduct, the populations I work with, and my consideration of the implications of such work.
