Expertise in Second Language Writing Instruction: Conceptual and Empirical Understandings

Reforms in second language (L2) writing instructional approaches and technology-empowered education have brought transformative changes to L2 writing pedagogical landscapes. As L2 writing researchers and practitioners, we have observed that such changes can be ‘one man’s meat and another man’s poison’ for L2 writing teachers. Specifically, while many ‘novice’ and ‘experienced nonexpert’ teachers proactively adapt to changes and broaden their instructional repertoires, some expert teachers may, paradoxically, exhibit reduced confidence in adjusting their pedagogical practices. This phenomenon offers us a practical rationale for exploring L2 writing teacher expertise, an under-explored area in L2 writing research. Specifically, since the emergence of L2 writing as an independent field over the past four decades or so, scholarship has generated substantial insights into L2 writers and their writing development. By contrast, considerably less attention has been devoted to L2 writing teachers, let alone to systematic investigations into what constitutes expertise in L2 writing instruction, a ‘less travelled road’ characterized by Hirvela and Belcher (2022). It is in this context that Expertise in Second Language Writing Instruction: Conceptual and Empirical Understandings, edited by Hirvela and Belcher, capture our interest for its clear structure and accessible language. Building on and extending earlier calls to foreground L2 writing teacher expertise, it takes up the baton from previous disciplinary efforts to bring sustained attention to this under examined topic. By assembling a wide range of scholarly perspectives that employ diverse research approaches and analytical lenses, this edited volume is the first one to exclusively delve into L2 writing teacher expertise. Overall, we find it to be a timely and significant publication that not only addresses the long-standing ‘expertise gap’ but also provides valuable insights for both L2 writing teachers’ professional development and researchers’ empirical investigations.