Tracing contextual realities in TESOL

Fiona Xiaofei Tang; Shashi Nallaya; Julie Choi; Sue Ollerhead

doi:10.21153/tesol2025vol34no2art2286

Authors

Dr Fiona Xiaofei Tang Kaplan Business School https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5742-016X
Dr Shashi Nallaya University of South Australia https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3098-8112
Dr Julie Choi University of Melbourne
Dr Sue Ollerhead University of the South Pacific

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.21153/tesol2025vol34no2art2286

Keywords:

TESOL, context, multilingualism

Abstract

Every issue of TESOL in Context reflects the many places in which our field lives: classrooms, communities, policy environments, digital spaces, and the interpersonal worlds of learners and educators. As we worked through the contributions in this volume, we found ourselves repeatedly drawn to the idea of contextual realities, namely, the histories that shape current practice, the polices that structure opportunity, the instructional choices that influence learner development, and the culturally situated ways in which multilingual individuals communicate. Established research underscores that individual and contextual factors are inextricably intertwined in language learning and teaching (Al-Mahrooqi & Denman, 2022), and the current issue brings that insight into vivid relief.

To honour the coherence of these contributions, this editorial groups them into several thematic clusters. These are not fixed categories but points of resonance that help trace the dynamics of TESOL’s evolving landscape.

Author Biographies

Dr Fiona Xiaofei Tang, Kaplan Business School

Dr Fiona Xiaofei Tang is Managing Editor of the Journal of Applied Learning & Teaching and TESOL in Context, and the inaugural Academic Learning Specialist (Academic Level C) at Kaplan Business School, Australia. Holding a PhD in Linguistics (TESOL specialisation) and an honorary Visiting Research Fellowship at the Australian National University, she brings extensive cross-sector experience in higher education across Australia and China. An award-winning educator and researcher, Tang has published widely on digital education, second language acquisition, flipped learning, textbook evaluation, and teacher professional development. Her editorial leadership is supported by a cross-disciplinary publication record across refereed journals, conference proceedings, edited volumes, and monographs. She is also author/editor of Learnability of Grammar (2017) and both editions of Introduction to Society and Culture of Britain and America (2018, 2021).
Dr Shashi Nallaya, University of South Australia

Dr Shashi Nallaya has many years of experience teaching academic literacies, English language, and second language acquisition. She has been extensively involved in the design, implementation and evaluation of English language and teacher training programs at primary, secondary and tertiary levels, in various linguistic and cultural settings. She is currently working as an Academic Developer at UniSA. In this role, she is responsible for helping academics implement an innovative curriculum through mentoring, staff development sessions and resources. Nallaya studied for her PhD at the School of Education, The University of Adelaide. Her doctoral study investigated how technology, student characteristics and learning needs impact the acquisition of English language proficiency. Prior to taking up her current role, she was working as a Learning Adviser at the Faculty of Professions, University of Adelaide. She was an academic at the Faculty of Languages, Sultan Idris Education University, Malaysia where she originates from. She was involved in the training of pre-service teachers.
Dr Julie Choi, University of Melbourne

Dr Julie Choi is Associate Professor in Education (Additional Languages) in the Faculty of Education, University of Melbourne. She is co-editor of the books Language and Culture: Reflective Narratives and the Emergence of Identity, Plurilingualism in Teaching and Learning: Complexities across Contexts, and author of Creating a Multivocal Self: Autoethnography as Method.
Dr Sue Ollerhead, University of the South Pacific

Dr Sue Ollerhead is Associate Professor of Literacy and Language Education at the University of the South Pacific. Her career spans several countries and continents and reflects a sustained commitment to linguistic and social justice in education. Her research and teaching focus on language and literacy pedagogy, culturally responsive and sustaining teaching strategies, and the explicit teaching of oracy across the curriculum. She has published widely on these themes, examining how educators can better support diverse learners through pedagogical approaches that affirm students’ linguistic and cultural identities.