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This volume on classroom discourse competence (CDC) is divided into three parts and consists of a total of fifteen chapters. The contributing authors in this book approach CDC from different angles and discuss selected issues. What all of these contributions share, however, is their focus on English language teaching/learning and the question of how CDC and its related sub-competences can be promoted in the context of pre-service EFL teacher education at university level.

The opening section (Part I – Introduction: Classroom Discourse and Classroom Discourse Competence) lays the theoretical and conceptual foundation of this book.

Following this introductory chapter, which presents the rationale and scope of this volume, the editor then addresses the issue of CDC development in language teacher education. Katrin Thomson argues that apart from general foreign language competence, (prospective) language teachers also need to acquire CDC since target language proficiency as such does not enable language teachers to professionally perform the complex discoursal tasks required of them in the FL classroom. Thomson first proposes a revised and expanded model of FL teachers’ professional competence and then, against this backdrop, ‘zooms into’ this model to present her conceptualization and definition of CDC.

In the second section (Part II – Exploring the Facets of L2 Classroom Discourse Competence), the focus is on selected classroom discourse phenomena and specific sub-dimensions of CDC which (prospective) EFL teachers are eventually required to master.

The chapter by Anna Rosen illustrates the vital importance of high-quality teacher talk for students’ development of conversational skills in the target language. Drawing on research findings which suggest that conversational features (such as discourse markers, question tags or stance markers) are underused in teacher talk, Rosen shows in her transcript analyses that when they do occur they are likely to lead to learner uptake in classroom discourse. Based on her findings the author points out some of the implications for English language teaching and teacher education. Among other recommendations, Rosen suggests that pre-service teacher education programs need to provide possibilities for awareness-raising and the acquisition of knowledge about conversational features and discourse strategies.

Ralf Gießler focuses on lexical classroom discourse (LCD), i.e. a specific type of classroom discourse that aims to support students’ lexical learning. As regards the language learners’ perspective, developing lexical competence, the author argues, implies more than learning about word meanings. Foreign language learners also need to gain a deep understanding of a word’s form and use, its pronunciation, collocations etc. From a teacher’s perspective, mastering the complex and challenging tasks of ‘robust vocabulary instruction’, thus, requires a high command of LCD skills. In the context of university-level teacher education, these skills – the author suggests – can be developed if prospective teachers are given opportunities to explore and discuss the dimensions of vocabulary teaching/learning in L2 classroom discourse. As Gießler’s chapter and case studies in particular show, this can be achieved by using video-recorded lesson sequences in combination with individual written analyses (IWAs) of these vignettes. Video-based classroom data allows student teachers to investigate and reflect upon the teachers’ classroom discourse moves that may support (or hinder) lexical learning in specific classroom situations. Considering the importance of lexical learning in foreign language education, this chapter underlines the necessity to sensitize and prepare prospective teachers for the challenging tasks they will encounter in L2 lexical classroom discourse.

In their chapter, Jochen Baier and Emily Brehm address the challenges that EFL teacher face in L2 literary classroom discourse. Structuring, orchestrating and shaping whole-class discussions about literary texts requires professional discourse competences which prospective teachers, the authors argue, need to develop systematically. Baier and Brehm emphasize that even with a native speaker-like command of English, scaffolding literary classroom discourse is quite difficult as it goes far beyond the notion of merely initiating follow-up communication with learners after having read a text. Apart from linguistic aspects, these challenges arise, they explain, from the theoretical frictions between opposing literary theories (such as New Criticism and Response Theory), which ultimately also inform different methodological approaches to teaching (with) literature in foreign language classrooms. Teachers, for instance, need to find ways to integrate and ‘reconcile’ cognitive-analytical and individual response-oriented approaches in literary classroom discourse. Further issues, such as the heterogeneity within learner groups or students’ altered reading habits in the era of digitalization, present further challenges that teachers are required to respond to in literary discourse. The use of scaffolding techniques such as prompting can be effective means to enhance student learning. Baier and Brehm categorize different types of prompts and discuss their functions and potentially beneficial effects on student-activation in L2 literary discourse. Using Kate Chopin’s “The Story of an Hour” as an example, the authors illustrate how prompts can be used to get language learners engaged in classroom discourse. Prospective EFL teachers, they conclude, would profit from training programs in which the development of L2 literary discourse competence, including the effective use of scaffolding strategies like prompting, would play a more prominent role.

Turning to another subtype of CDC, Katrin Thomson focuses on teachers’ discourse competence in L2 classroom management contexts. In light of the conceptual changes that the notion of ‘classroom management’ (CM) has undergone since the 1960s, Thomson pleads for a stronger consideration of CM issues in the subject-specific domain of EFL teacher education. Her conceptualization of L2 CM competence challenges previous views that assume that ‘classroom management’ is exclusively linked to teachers’ general pedagogical knowledge. The author pinpoints the distinctive characteristics of CM discourse in ELT and shows that, in spite of the concept’s transdisciplinary nature, a subject-specific approach to developing L2 CM competences is required as well if prospective EFL teachers are supposed to master the multitude of discourse tasks which they will encounter in managerial contexts.

Charlott Falkenhagen and Sieglinde Spath focus on teacher discourse competences in CLIL settings. Based on the notion that CLIL contexts require specific professional discourse competences, the authors use authentic classroom data from CLIL music/English lessons in order to examine the functions and effects of certain discourse features (such as the amount of teacher talking time, teacher code-switching and the implementation of IRF patterns) in this pedagogical context. In view of the particular challenges that L2 learners encounter in CLIL classrooms, Falkenhagen and Spath stress the importance of teachers’ CLIL discourse competence and argue that EFL/CLIL teachers require professional training to successfully combine language and content learning.

Shifting the focus to a different subtype of classroom discourse competence, Katalin Schober’s chapter draws attention to the challenges that L2 classroom discourse in inclusive settings presents to foreign language teacher and learners alike. Focusing on hearing-impaired language learners in particular, Schober explains why EFL teachers need to acquire not only expert knowledge on inclusive classroom discourse, but also the skills and competences which enable teachers to use inclusive discourse strategies in order to meet and effectively respond to the special needs of hearing-impaired learners. For instance, language teachers in inclusive settings need to develop a nuanced understanding of certain discourse phenomema (such as code-switching and echoing) which have been subject to much critical discussion in other language teaching contexts. Emphasizing the importance of EFL teachers’ reflective-interactional competence and discoursal flexibility in inclusive classroom settings, the author pleads for a stronger and more adequate consideration of inclusive classroom discourse issues in pre-service teacher education programs at university level.

The seven chapters in the third section (Part III – Practical Approaches to CDC Development in Pre-Service Teacher Education) present a variety of digital tools and resources as well as field-tested seminar modules and course concepts, all of which have been designed to foster prospective teachers’ CDC. The contributions in this section provide valuable insights into the practical work of TEFL teacher educators at university level, which may serve as inspiration for teacher educators and/or teacher trainers in similar settings. What is more, these contributions demonstrate that CDC development at pre-service stage has recently received somewhat greater attention – be it in the context of single seminar sessions, supervised school placements or full-fledged TEFL courses that are dedicated entirely to fostering student teachers’ CDC.

Addressing the issue of technologically and digitally supported teacher education, René Koglbauer, Jon Haines and Paul Seedhouse introduce the Video Enhanced Observation (VEO) app. The authors explain how the app works, describe its features and illustrate ways of using the app in various contexts and phases of foreign language teacher education. Focusing particularly on the observation and analysis of classroom discourse and teacher talk, the video-recorded classroom data may serve as a basis for critical self-reflection and a constructive, professional dialogue between observed (pre-service) teachers and their teacher educators. Drawing on the concept of reflective practice, Koglbauer and his co-authors argue that using video-recordings of student teachers’ own teaching experience in post-lesson analysis and discussion provides valuable opportunities for systematic, structured and focused reflection-on-action as observed teachers do not have to rely on their memory but can relate to empirical evidence of their actual teaching practices in language classrooms.

Karen Glaser introduces the reader to a videography research project on classroom discourse competence (CDC) which primary school TEFL students conduct in the context of a school internship module. Glaser describes the general structure and objectives of her students’ research projects and, on the basis of two select student samples, illustrates how specific videography assignments on teachers’ instruction-giving and feedback behavior respectively can foster students’ analytical and reflective skills with regard to classroom discourse phenomena in the EFL primary school classroom. Referring to the positive outcome of these videography assignments, Glaser concludes that small-scale research projects on classroom interaction, teacher and student talk – if preceded or accompanied by university TEFL seminars/lectures – can foster student teachers’ classroom discourse competence and raise classroom discourse awareness.

Holger Limberg discusses the potential of classroom corpora in EFL teacher education at university level. Focusing on primary school education, he argues that a qualitative approach to lesson transcripts increases student teachers’ professional knowledge and leads to a deeper understanding of how EFL primary school teachers implement the principles and methods of FLT in classroom discourse. Limberg uses transcript samples from the Primary English Classroom Corpus (PECC) to illustrate how analyzing and discussing authentic spoken discourse can foster prospective teachers’ awareness of discourse patterns in primary school language education. Classroom corpora, Limberg points out, are a valuable tool for EFL teacher professionalization as they provide student teachers with opportunities to explore specific aspects of classroom discourse, analyze patterns of use and discuss how teachers’ verbal actions may affect student learning.

In a similar vein, Olaf Jäkel also focuses on the use of classroom corpora in language teacher education. Drawing on transcript data from the author’s own classroom corpus (FLECC), Jäkel provides detailed analyses of year 5 lesson transcripts. He ‘revisits an old acquaintance’, as the author himself puts it: the IRF exchange structure, which has attracted much scholarly interest for decades both in Applied Linguistics and in foreign language education research. The IRF pattern has also been at the centre of much critical debate. On the one hand, the IRF exchange structure has been criticized not only for rendering classroom discourse monotonous, mechanical, and predictable, but also for minimizing opportunities for genuine communication in language classrooms. On the other hand, it has been noted that in certain lesson contexts its use can support students’ language learning (see also Limberg’s chapter). Jäkel returns to this particular discourse pattern in order to illustrate that the IRF structure can be used to serve multiple purposes (such as giving form- and content-focused feedback, expressing appreciation of learner contributions, incorporating repair work), provided that EFL teachers are aware of these different functions. Taking transcript analyses of IRF sequences as an example, Jäkel emphasizes the merits of using authentic classroom discourse corpora and – like Limberg – pleads for an increased use of such data in university TEFL seminars.

Gabriele Blell and Friederike von Bremen describe the purpose and design of the VirtU learning module project in which student teachers of TEFL observe, analyze and discuss video vignettes recorded in authentic EFL classrooms. Aiming to promote prospective teachers’ reflective competence with regard to classroom discourse, the core component of this project lies in the use of tailor-made educational resources (tasks and guiding questions for video analysis and reflection). In their chapter, the authors explain the theoretical and conceptual underpinnings of their task designs and then present two specific samples which focus on different teacher tasks in L2 classroom discourse: giving instructions and hosting a class discussion.

Having made classroom discourse competence one of her major scholarly concerns not only in research but also in practical EFL teacher education at pre-service stage, Katrin Thomson presents ClaDis – a course concept which she designed and implemented at university level to foster student teachers’ CDC. Drawing on key concepts which presently inform language teacher education (including the construct of teachers’ professional knowledge, professional vision, data-led classroom research and reflective practice), Thomson explains the complex theoretical underpinnings and conceptual framework of ClaDis. First presenting the three pillars which form the foundation of ClaDis (knowledge—reflection—practice), Thomson then shows what specifically each of these pillars entails in terms of actual course work and TEFL students’ competence gains. In her chapter, she incorporates selected extracts from two student teacher samples (by Anna Bichlmaier and Chiara Ballmann-Noukra) in order to illustrate the potential of this course concept to effectively and sustainably contribute to the development of CDC in the context of initial teacher education. Bichlmaier transcribed a self-selected video vignette and analyzed the teacher’s instruction-giving while teaching 9^th-grade students (‘other-data’). Ballmann-Noukra transcribed and analyzed a video-recorded micro-teaching sequence (simulating a lesson lead-in in 12^th grade) which she had prepared and subsequently taught in one of the ClaDis seminar sessions (‘self-data’). With the intention of giving greater recognition to students’ course work and achievements, both students were invited by the author to publish the written accounts of their individual course assignments as online supplements to this chapter. Full-length versions of their papers are accessible via the publisher’s website (www.meta.narr.de/9783823383741/Zusatzmaterial.zip).

In the last chapter of this section, Sandra Stadler-Heer presents a course concept which aims to foster prospective primary school teachers’ L2 classroom discourse competence through reflective practice (RP) and the use of video-taped micro-teaching (MT) sequences. Course participants, Stadler-Heer explains, are required to design and perform two different MT sequences, each one embedded in teaching/learning contexts that are characteristic for the EFL primary school classroom: story-telling and game-based teaching/learning. The course concept, thus, combines aspects of lesson planning, teaching English to young learners and L2 classroom discourse. Focusing particulary on the development of TEFL students’ reflective competences, Stadler-Heer gives special attention to the various ways of how this can be achieved in the context of pre-service language teacher education (i.e. through post-MT ad-hoc self-reflections, oral peer reflections, written self-reflections using the stimulated recall method). A full transcript of a student’s ad-hoc self-reflection and further material has been made available by the author and can be downloaded from the publisher’s website (www.meta.narr.de/9783823383741/Zusatzmaterial.zip).

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In a volume that addresses theoretical, conceptual as well as practical issues of classroom discourse competence and EFL teacher education, it is clearly impossible to cover every facet of the topic or to include the entire body of literature that informs the academic discourse in this field. Thus, this book cannot and does not claim to be exhaustive. It is the editor’s hope, however, that the chapters in this volume will both enrich and further advance the scholarly discussion of CDC. TEFL researchers, university teacher educators, teacher trainers and (prospective) language teachers will hopefully find value in this volume as it may provide them with new insights about the complexity of teachers’ CDC and/or fresh ideas for the various professional contexts individual readers are involved in.