Language Teacher Agency and Technological Determinism
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| Title: | Language Teacher Agency and Technological Determinism |
|---|---|
| Language: | English |
| Authors: | Jeremie Bouchard |
| Source: | Educational Linguistics. 2026. |
| Availability: | Springer. Available from: Springer Nature. One New York Plaza, Suite 4600, New York, NY 10004. Tel: 800-777-4643; Tel: 212-460-1500; Fax: 212-460-1700; e-mail:customerservice@springernature.com; Web site: https://www.springer.com/series/5894 |
| Peer Reviewed: | Y |
| Page Count: | 16 |
| Publication Date: | 2026 |
| Document Type: | Reports - Evaluative |
| Descriptors: | Language Teachers, Professional Autonomy, Technology Uses in Education, Artificial Intelligence |
| DOI: | 10.1007/978-3-032-15648-8_4 |
| Abstract: | This chapter looks at language teacher agency (LTA) by first offering a critique of agency as 'free-will', a culture-specific view which posits agency in opposition to structural and cultural influences, while advocating agentive determinism. This view of agency is deemed evident in research on generative artificial intelligence (GenAI) in language education, which promulgates a paradoxical view of language learners and teachers as (a) instrumentally-driven and calculating, and (b) relatively powerless in the face of ongoing technological developments. Informed by critical realism, this chapter also analyses textual evidence found in academic articles, magazine and newspaper articles, and YouTube videos devoted to GenAI in (language) education which, together, include traces of growing acceptance by researchers, commentators, and language teachers of the agency-as-free-will concept, and technological determinism, an ideological subset of neoliberalism. Reflections and practical recommendations on humanist approaches to LTA and the technology-language pedagogy interaction are offered. [For the complete volume, "Reimagining Language Teacher Agency: Transperspectival Insights and Actionable Strategies. Educational Linguistics. Volume 70," see ED679531.] |
| Abstractor: | As Provided |
| Entry Date: | 2026 |
| Accession Number: | ED679568 |
| Database: | ERIC |
| Abstract: | This chapter looks at language teacher agency (LTA) by first offering a critique of agency as 'free-will', a culture-specific view which posits agency in opposition to structural and cultural influences, while advocating agentive determinism. This view of agency is deemed evident in research on generative artificial intelligence (GenAI) in language education, which promulgates a paradoxical view of language learners and teachers as (a) instrumentally-driven and calculating, and (b) relatively powerless in the face of ongoing technological developments. Informed by critical realism, this chapter also analyses textual evidence found in academic articles, magazine and newspaper articles, and YouTube videos devoted to GenAI in (language) education which, together, include traces of growing acceptance by researchers, commentators, and language teachers of the agency-as-free-will concept, and technological determinism, an ideological subset of neoliberalism. Reflections and practical recommendations on humanist approaches to LTA and the technology-language pedagogy interaction are offered. [For the complete volume, "Reimagining Language Teacher Agency: Transperspectival Insights and Actionable Strategies. Educational Linguistics. Volume 70," see ED679531.] |
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| DOI: | 10.1007/978-3-032-15648-8_4 |
