ABSTRACT
Before I was an applied linguist I was an EFL teacher, and before that I was a student of sociology. As a sociology student in the 1970s I was fascinated by the so-called “structure vs. agency” debate. How far are our thoughts and actions determined by social structures? What role does individual agency play in determining the course of our lives? At fi rst, I favored the view that the force of social structures could only be challenged by collective agency. But more nuanced views of the relationship between social structure and individual action were emerging at that time, and I was also infl uenced by life historians who viewed social processes through the eyes of individuals who directly experienced them.
