ABSTRACT
This chapter explores the ways in which teachers engage with questions of values in English language classrooms across social contexts. It explores two data examples in which specific values are discussed in particular classrooms. The chapter ends with implications for understanding values in ELT. Teachers make decisions based on values, and, during lessons, students and teachers express particular values. The chapter discusses values because it recognises that talking about values often is a value within the popular methodological paradigm of communicative language teaching (CLT). Bell Lara and Lopez define neoliberalism as the premise that freedom of choice and the rational calculation of economic actors is the principle underlying human behaviour. Critical self-reflection while teaching can create a starting place for effectively addressing values in the classroom. Practitioners need to focus on how research and praxis can lead to a better understanding of values.
