Language Teaching Futures is a peer-reviewed international journal dedicated to advancing research and critical scholarship on the evolving landscapes of language education. The journal aims to explore forward-looking, innovative, and research-informed perspectives on the future of language teaching and learning across diverse contexts. We welcome original contributions that examine the trajectories, transformations, and challenges in language education, particularly as they relate to: Futures thinking in language learning and teaching Sustainability and ecological approaches in language education Psychological and cognitive dimensions of second language acquisition (SLA) and pedagogy The teaching and learning of L2 skills (e.g., vocabulary, reading, listening, grammar) The evolving roles and futures of subfields such as pragmatics, English for Academic Purposes (EAP), English for Specific Purposes (ESP), and their pedagogical implications Artificial Intelligence (AI) and technological innovation in language education, including AI-powered tools, digital games, gamification strategies, immersive technologies (e.g., AR/VR), intelligent tutoring systems, and other innovative platforms for teaching, learning, and assessment The journal encourages interdisciplinary approaches that draw from applied linguistics, education, psychology, future studies, and digital innovation. We prioritize submissions that not only contribute to current knowledge but also anticipate shifts in pedagogical paradigms, learner needs, technological integration, and policy development. Language Teaching Futures serves as a platform for researchers, educators, and policymakers seeking to critically engage with the forces shaping the future of language education globally.
Why the Futures of Language Education Must Be Examined
Why do you teach languages? If you ask a group of language teachers, the answers will often be future-oriented. We teach foreign languages to the students so that they can access opportunities, travel to other countries, participate in various communities and build lives beyond the present moment. However, in orienting language teaching toward the future, we rarely pause to contemplate on how specific images of the future come to shape what language teaching will become. This first special issue of Language Teaching Futures provides a space to slow down and reflect on the interplay between human futures and language education. It proceeds from the recognition that futures are not neutral backdrops to pedagogical activities and educational practices, but powerful imaginaries that organize priorities, distribute values, identify desirable scenarios, and shape who language learners might become. At a moment marked by climate and geopolitical uncertainty, technological innovation, environmental crisis and linguistic inequality, futures involved in language learning and teaching matter more than any time before. Exploring those futures, critically, ethically, and imaginatively, is not speculative indulgence but a necessary and pedagogical task. This journal is founded to support that work. References Ahvenharju, S., Minkkinen, M., & Lalot, F. (2018). The five dimensions of Futures Consciousness. Futures, 104, 1-13. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.futures.2018.06.010 Chen, K.H., & Hsu, L. P. (2020). Visioning the future: Evaluating learning outcomes and impacts of futures-oriented education. Journal of Futures Studies, 24, 103-116. https://doi.org/10.6531/JFS_2020_06_24(04).0011 Facer, K. (2021). Futures in education: Towards an ethical practice (Background paper for the UNESCO Futures of Education initiative). UNESCO. Gidley, J. M., & Hampson, G. P. (2005). The evolution of futures in school education. Futures, 37(4), 255–271. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.futures.2004.07.005 Lalot, F., Ahvenharju, S., & Bishop, P. C. (2024). The seeds of tomorrow: Investigating adolescent perception of the future with the Futures Consciousness scale for adolescents. Futures, 162, 103419. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.futures.2024.103419 Conflict of Interest: The author declares no conflict of interests. Funding: The authors received no fund for wiritng this editorial. Data Avalability: Data sharing not applicable to this article as no datasets were generated or analyzed during the current study. Generative AI Use: The author did not use generative AI for wiritng this editorial. Author Contribution: Nourollah Zarrinabadi: Writing, Recources.
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Profiling Language Teachers’ Implicit Theories of the Future: Future Mindsets as Predictors of Language Teachers’ Emotions
This study explored language teachers’ beliefs about the malleability of their futures and their relationship with their teaching emotions of enjoyment, anger and anxiety. Drawing on Dweck’s mindset theory, the present study introduced the concept of future mindsets and explored whether teachers’ beliefs about the changeability of their futures could predict their emotions of enjoyment, anger, and anxiety. The data were collected from 300 Iranian language teachers using the Teachers’ Future Mindset Scale (Dweck, 2006) and the Teacher Emotions Scale (Frenzel et al., 2016). Latent profile analysis showed three distinct profiles of future mindsets: growth-oriented, mixed, and fixed-oriented. The of the study also showed that age and gender did not significantly predict profile membership, but future mindset profiles significantly predicted emotional outcomes. 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Frontiers in Psychology, 10, 839. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2019.00839 Zhang, M., Chen, H., Wang, N., Li, Y., Li, X., & Liu, Y. (2023). The mediating role of job satisfaction between psychological capital and work engagement among Chinese nurses during COVID-19 outbreak: A comparative study between nurse specialists and general nurses. Frontiers in Psychiatry, 13, 990216. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyt.2022.990216 Acknowledgements: The author would like to thank all of the teachers who participated in the study. Conflict of Interest: The authors declare no conflict of interests. Funding: The authors received no fund for doing the study. Data Avalability: The data are available upon request sent to the corresponding author. Ethical Statement: All procedures performed in this study involving human participants were in accordance with the ethical standards of the institutional and/or national research committee and with the 1964 Helsinki declaration and its later amendments or comparable ethical standards. Informed Consent: Informed consent was obtained from the participants prior to the study. Generative AI Use: The author did not use generative AI at any stage of the study. Author Contribution: Alireza Mohammadzadeh Mohammadabadi: Conceptualization, Writing , Data collection, Data analysis, Results, Resources.
mindsets, future mindsets, teacher emotions, enjoyment, anxiety, anger