ABSTRACT
The paucity of published studies on language ‘teacher educators’ (TEs) work might be associated with a “devaluing” of their role, which is found to be manifested through “a lack of respect of teacher education and teacher educators within academia” resulting in Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages TEs preferring to identify themselves as researchers, linguists or applied linguists instead. Teacher education is seen as the key to preparing better-qualified teachers who can meet the demands of the 21st century. Research into teacher education has thus gained momentum. In Vietnam, as well as other similar educational contexts in Asia, the demand for qualified English language TEs is of great significance. The literature reviewed so far demonstrates the importance of understanding TEs’ pedagogical orientations in their teacher education work and professional development. The studies have accumulatively highlighted the fundamental roles of TEs’ prior experiences, insider perspective, and contexts in understanding and developing their pedagogical orientations.
