Keywords
second language
foreign language
systematic review
How to Cite
Number of views: 316
Number of downloads: 289
Abstract
This systematic review investigated teacher expectations of students learning an additional language, in the context of either immigrant students as a minority in the classroom or of all majority-group students learning a foreign language together. Only 28 studies could be located. The review found some negative teacher expectations and beliefs towards and about immigrant students. Most teachers appeared to lack training for teaching their second language learners (SLLs), but many appeared reluctant to engage in additional professional development because the offerings were considered inadequate. However, some studies offered detailed descriptions of teacher practices that had significantly increased their SLLs’ learning and psychosocial outcomes. Given the multicultural nature of many of today’s classrooms, there is a clear need for additional studies in this field and for high-quality professional development.
References
Babad, E. (2009). The social psychology of the classroom. Routledge. DOI: https://doi.org/10.4324/9780203872475
Batruch, A., Geven, S., Kessenich, E., & van de Werfhorst, H. G. (2023). Are tracking recommendations biased? A review of teachers’ role in the creation of inequalities in tracking decisions. Teaching and Teacher Education, 123, 103985. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tate.2022.103985
**Berry, R. (1997). Teachers’ awareness of learners’ knowledge: The case of metalinguistic terminology. Language Awareness, 6, 136-146. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/09658416.1997.9959923
Brophy, J. E. (1985). Teacher-student interaction. In J. B. Dusek (Ed.), Teacher expectancies (pp. 303-328). Lawrence Erlbaum.
Brophy, J. E., & Good, T. L. (1970). Teachers’ communication of differential expectations for children’s classroom performance: Some behavioral data. Journal of Educational Psychology, 61, 365-374. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1037/h0029908
Brophy, J. E., & Good, T. L. (1974). Teacher-student relationships: Causes and consequences. Holt, Rinehart & Winston.
**Cavazos, A. G. (2009). Reflections of a Latina student-teacher: Refusing low expectations for Latina/o students. American Secondary Education, 37(3), 70-79.
*Cheatham, G. A., Armstrong, J., & Santos, R. M. (2009). “Y’all listenin?”: Accessing children’s dialects in preschool. Young Exceptional Children, 12, 1-13. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1177/1096250609337588
Chen, Y.-H., Thompson, M. S., Kromrey, J. D., & Chang, G. H. (2011). Relations of student perceptions of teacher oral feedback with teacher expectancies and student self-concept. Journal of Experimental Edu-cation, 79, 452-477. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/00220973.2010.547888
**Contreras, C. D. (1985). Teacher expectations and achievement of bilingual students [Doctoral dissertation, University of Massachusetts Amherst].
Dandy, J., Durkin, K., Barber, B. L., & Houghton, S. (2015). Academic expectations of Australian students from Aboriginal, Asian and Anglo backgrounds: Perspectives of teachers, trainee-teachers and students. International Journal of Disability, Development and Education, 62(1), 60-82. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/1034912X.2014.984591
**Dean, M. R. (2006). Do teacher expectations and behavior influence students’ academic achievement and acquisition of second language proficiency in an elementary bilingual two-way immersion setting? [Doctoral dissertation, California Lutheran University]. ProQuest Dissertations & Theses Global.
*Dewaele, J.-M., Saito, K., & Halimi, F. (2022). How teacher behaviour shapes foreign language learners’ enjoyment, anxiety and attitudes/motivation: A mixed modelling longitudinal investigation. Language Teaching Research, 29(4), 1580-1602. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1177/13621688221089601
**Ding, H., & Rubie-Davies, C. M. (2019). A teacher expectation intervention: Is it effective for all students? Learning and Individual Differences, 74, Article 101751. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.lindif.2019.06.005
**Dooly, M. (2005). How aware are they? Research into teachers’ attitudes about linguistic diversity. Language Awareness, 14(2-3), 97-111. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/09658410508668827
*Drakulić, M. (2019). Exploring the relationship between students’ perceptions of the language teacher and the development of foreign language learning motivation. Theory and Practice in Language Studies, 9(4), 364-370. DOI: https://doi.org/10.17507/tpls.0904.02
**Edl, H. M., Jones, M., & Estell, D. B. (2008). Ethnicity and English proficiency: Teacher perceptions of academic and interpersonal competence in European American and Latino students. School Psychology Review, 37(1), 38-45. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/02796015.2008.12087906
*Esfandiari, R., Meihami, H., & Jahani, F. (2022). Exploring Iranian post-graduate EFL students’ academic writing experiences and expectations: A dynamic narrative approach. The Electronic Journal for English as a Second Language, 25(4), 1-24. DOI: https://doi.org/10.55593/ej.25100a4
Gentrup, S., & Rjosk, C. (2018). Pygmalion and the gender gap: Do teacher expectations contribute to differences in achievement between boys and girls at the beginning of schooling? Educational Research and Evaluation, 24(3-5), 295-323. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/13803611.2018.1550840
**Hachfeld, A., Anders, Y., Schroeder, S., Stanat, P., & Kunter, M. (2010). Does immigration background matter? How teachers’ predictions of students’ performance relate to student background. International Journal of Educational Research, 49, 78-91. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijer.2010.09.002
**Hansen-Thomas, H., & Cavagnetto, A. (2010). What do mainstream middle school teachers think about their English language learners? A Tri-state case study. Bilingual Research Journal, 33(2), 249-266. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/15235882.2010.502803
*Horwitz, E. K. (1988). The beliefs about language learning of beginning university foreign language students. Modern Language Journal, 72(3), 83-294. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1540-4781.1988.tb04190.x
* Huang, Y., & Gui, M. (2015). Articulating teachers’ expectations afore: Impact of rubrics on Chinese EFL learners’ self-assessment and speaking ability. Journal of Education and Training Studies, 3(3), 126-132. DOI: https://doi.org/10.11114/jets.v3i3.753
*Jia, Z. (2012). Jiaoshi qiwang dui zhongxue yingyu ketang shisheng hudong de yingxiang [The influence of teacher’s expectation on teacher-student interaction in junior English classroom] [Master’s thesis, Shanxi Normal University].
**Karabenick, S. A., & Clemens Noda, P. A. (2004). Professional development implications of teachers’ beliefs and attitudes toward English language learners. Bilingual Research Journal, 28(1), 55-75. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/15235882.2004.10162612
** Ketsman, O. (2012). Expectations in the foreign language classrooms: A case study. The Qualitative Report, 17(53), 1-21.
Khalfaoui, A., García-Carrión, R., & Villardón-Gallego, L. (2021). A systematic review of the literature on aspects affecting positive classroom climate in multicultural early childhood education. Early Childhood Education Journal, 49(1), 71-81. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10643-020-01054-4
*Kim, S. L. (2021). A review of the literature on teachers’ beliefs about English language learners. International Journal of Educational Research Open, 2, Article 100040. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijedro.2021.100040
*Leucht, M., Tiffin-Richards, S., Vock, M., Pant, H. A., & Köller, O. (2012). Diagnostische Kompetenz von Englischlehrkräften. Zeitschrift für Entwicklungspsychologie und pädagogische Psychologie, 44(4), 163-177. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1026/0049-8637/a000071
**Li, Z. & Rubie-Davies, C. M. (2017). Teachers matter: Expectancy effects in college foreign language classrooms. Studies in Higher Education, 42(11), 2042-2060. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/03075079.2015.1130692
**Li, Z., & Rubie-Davies, C. M., (2018). Anything new? The bases of university teachers’ expectations. Educational Research and Evaluation, 24(3-5), 201-220. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/13803611.2018.1550835
*Lou, N. M., & Noels, K. A. (2019). Promoting growth in foreign and second language education: A research agenda for mindsets in language learning and teaching. System, 86, Article 102126. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.system.2019.102126
McKown, C., & Weinstein, R. S. (2008). Teacher expectations, classroom context, and the achievement gap. Journal of School Psychology, 46(3), 235-261. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jsp.2007.05.001
**Meissel, K., Meyer, F., Yao, E. S., Rubie-Davies, C. M. (2017). Subjectivity of teacher judgments: Exploring student characteristics that influence teacher judgments of student ability. Teaching and Teacher Education, 65(1), 48-60. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tate.2017.02.021
**Milnes, T., & Cheng, L. (2008). Teachers’ assessment of ESL students in mainstream classes: Challenges, strategies, and decision-making. TESL Canada Journal, 25(2), 49-65. DOI: https://doi.org/10.18806/tesl.v26i1.129
*Moradi, K., & Sabeti, G. (2014). A comparison of EFL teachers and EFL students’ understandings of “highly effective teaching.” Procedia-Social and Behavioral Sciences, 98, 1204-1213. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.sbspro.2014.03.535
Muntoni, F., & Retelsdorf, J. (2023). Teachers’ gender-based expectations and stereotypes for student reading. In P. W. S. J. Watson, C. M. Rubie-Davies, & J. M. Stephens (Eds.), The Routledge international handbook of gender, stereotype threat, and teacher expectations (pp. 191-203). Routledge. DOI: https://doi.org/10.4324/9781003275763-20
**O’Brien, J. L. (2009). High school social studies teachers’ attitudes toward English language learners. Social Studies Research and Practice, 4(2), 36-48. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1108/SSRP-02-2009-B0003
**Penfield, J. (1987). ESL: The regular classroom teacher’s perspective TESOL Quarterly 21(1), 21-39. DOI: https://doi.org/10.2307/3586353
Rakoczy, K., Harks, B., Klieme, E., Blum, W., & Hichweber, J. (2013). Written feedback in mathematics: Mediated by students’ perception, moderated by goal orientation. Learning and Instruction, 27, 63-73. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.learninstruc.2013.03.002
**Reeves, J. R. (2006). Secondary teacher attitudes toward including English language learners in mainstream classrooms. The Journal of Educational Research, 99(3), 131-143. DOI: https://doi.org/10.3200/JOER.99.3.131-143
**Robisheaux, J. A. (1993). Aspects of culture, language, and teacher expectations in public schools: Implications for Spanish speaking students [Doctoral dissertation, University of New Orleans]. ERIC. https://eric.ed.gov/?id=ED376246
*Rodriguez, M. A. (2012). “But they just can’t do it”: Reconciling teacher expectations of Latino students. Journal of Cases in Educational Leadership, 15(1), 25-31. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1177/1555458912442605
Rubie-Davies, C. M. (2006). Teacher expectations and student self-perceptions: Exploring relationships. Psychology in the Schools, 43(5), 537-552. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1002/pits.20169
Rubie-Davies, C. M. (2007). Classroom interactions: Exploring the practices of high and low expectation teachers. British Journal of Educational Psychology, 77(2), 289-306. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1348/000709906X101601
Rubie-Davies, C. M. (2008). Teacher beliefs and expectations: Relationships with student learning. In C. M. Rubie-Davies & C. Rawlinson (Eds.), Challenging thinking about teaching and learning (pp. 25-39). Nova Publishers.
Rubie-Davies, C. M. (2015). Becoming a high expectation teacher: Raising the bar. Routledge. DOI: https://doi.org/10.4324/9781315761251
Rubie-Davies, C. M., Meissel, K., Alansari, M., Watson, P. W., Flint, A., & McDonald, L. (2020). Achievement and beliefs outcomes of students with high expectation teachers. Social Psychology of Education, 23, 1173-1201. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11218-020-09574-y
Rubie-Davies, C. M., & Peterson, E. R. (2016) Relations between teachers’ achievement over- and underestimation, and students’ beliefs for Māori and Pākehā students. Contemporary Educational Psychology, 47(1), 72-83. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cedpsych.2016.01.001
*Sang, Y., & Hiver, P. (2021). Using a language socialization framework to explore Chinese Students’ L2 Reticence in English language learning. Linguistics and Education, 61, 100904. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.linged.2021.100904
*Shapiro, E. S. (2008). From research to practice: Promoting academic competence for underserved students. School Psychology Review, 37(1), 46-51. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/02796015.2008.12087907
**Sharkey, J., & Layzer, C. (2000). Whose definition of success? Identifying factors that affect English language learners’ access to academic success and resources. TESOL Quarterly 34(2), 352-368. DOI: https://doi.org/10.2307/3587961
Sorhagen, N. S. (2013). Early teacher expectations disproportionately affect poor children’s high school performance. Journal of Educational Psychology, 105(2), 465-477. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1037/a0031754
**Sparks, R. L., & Ganschow, L. (1996). Teachers’ perceptions of students’ foreign language academic skills and affective characteristics. The Journal of Educational Research, 89(3), 172-185. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/00220671.1996.9941323
**Sparks, R. L., Ganschow, L., Artzer, M. E., Siebenhar, D., & Plageman, M. (2004). Foreign language teachers’ perceptions of students’ academic skills, affective characteristics, and proficiency: Replication and fol-low-up studies. Foreign Language Annals, 37(2), 263-278. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1944-9720.2004.tb02199.x
*Sullivan, C. (2016). Student preferences and expectations in an English classroom. Studies of Language and Cultural Education, 52, 35-47.
*Sundari, H. (2017). Classroom interaction in teaching English as foreign language at lower secondary schools in Indonesia. Advances in Language and Literary Studies, 8(6), 147-154. DOI: https://doi.org/10.7575/aiac.alls.v.8n.6p.147
Takriti, R. A., Elhoweris, H., & Atkinson, S. J. (2020). Examining the expectations of early years’ teachers in the UAE regarding a successful start to school for children with and without special educational needs. Early Child Development and Care, 190(4), 516-525. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/03004430.2018.1480144
**Terrill, M. M., & Maark, D. L. H. (2000). Preservice teachers’ expectations for schools with children of color and second-language learners. Journal of Teacher Education, 51(2), 149-155. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1177/002248710005100209
Timmermans, A. C., Kuyper, H., & van der Werf, M. P. C. (2015). Accurate, inaccurate or biased teacher expectations. Do Dutch teachers differ in their expectations at the end of primary education? British Journal of Educational Psychology, 85, 459-478. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/bjep.12087
*Tsiplakides, I., & Keramida, A. (2010). The relationship between teacher expectations and student achievement in the teaching of English as a foreign language. English Language Teaching, 3(2), 22-26. DOI: https://doi.org/10.5539/elt.v3n2p22
*Turner, M. (2009). Adult South Sudanese students in Australia: The significance of congruence between student and teacher expectations. Prospect, 24(3), 48-59.
Turner, H., Rubie-Davies, C. M., & Webber, M. (2015). Teacher expectations, ethnicity and the achievement gap. New Zealand Journal of Educational Studies, 50(1), 55-69. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s40841-015-0004-1
Urhahne, D. (2015). Teacher behavior as a mediator to the relationship between teacher judgment and students’ motivation and emotion. Teaching and Teacher Education, 45, 73-82. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tate.2014.09.006
**Vollmer, G. (2000). Praise and stigma: Teachers’ constructions of the “typical ESL student.” Journal of Intercultural Studies, 21(1), 53-66. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/07256860050000795
**Walker, A., Shafer, J., & Liams, M. (2004). “Not in my classroom”: Teacher attitudes towards english language learners in the mainstream classroom. NABE Journal of Research and Practice, 1(2), 130-160.
*Wang, S., Meissel, K., & Rubie-Davies, C. M. (2021). Teacher expectation effects in Chinese junior high schools: Exploring links between teacher expectations and student achievement using a hierarchical linear modelling approach. Social Psychology of Education, 24, 1305-1333. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11218-021-09654-7
*Wang, S., Rubie-Davies, C. M., & Meissel, K. (2020). The stability and trajectories of teacher expectations: Student achievement level as a moderator. Learning and Individual Differences, 78, 101819. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.lindif.2019.101819
**Wedin, A. (2010). A restricted curriculum for second language learners - a self-fulfilling teacher strategy? Language and Education, 24, 171-183. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/09500780903026352
Weinstein, R. S. (2002). Reaching higher: The power of expectations in schooling. Harvard University Press. DOI: https://doi.org/10.4159/9780674045040
*You, S., Dang, M., & Lim, S. (2016). Effects of student perceptions of teachers’ motivational behavior on reading, English, and mathematics achievement: The mediating role of domain specific self-efficacy and intrinsic motivation. Child & Youth Care Forum, 45(2), 221-240. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10566-015-9326-x
**Youngs, C. S., & Youngs, G. A. (2001). Predictors of mainstream teachers’ attitudes toward ESL students. TESOL Quarterly, 35(1), 97-120. DOI: https://doi.org/10.2307/3587861
**Zhu, M., & Urhahne, D. (2015). Teachers’ judgements of students’ foreign language achievement. European Journal of Psychology in Education, 30, 21-39. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10212-014-0225-6
License
Copyright (c) 2025 Christine Rubie-Davies, Mengnan Li
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
1.1 The Author hereby warrants that he/she is the owner of all the copyright and other intellectual property rights in the Work and that, within the scope of the present Agreement, the paper does not infringe the legal rights of another person. The owner of the copyright work also warrants that he/she is the sole and original creator thereof and that is not bound by any legal constraints in regard to the use or sale of the work.
1.2. The Publisher warrants that is the owner of the PRESSto platform for open access journals, hereinafter referred to as the PRESSto Platform.
2. The Author grants the Publisher non-exclusive and free of charge license to unlimited use worldwide over an unspecified period of time in the following areas of exploitation:
2.1. production of multiple copies of the Work produced according to the specific application of a given technology, including printing, reproduction of graphics through mechanical or electrical means (reprography) and digital technology;
2.2. marketing authorisation, loan or lease of the original or copies thereof;
2.3. public performance, public performance in the broadcast, video screening, media enhancements as well as broadcasting and rebroadcasting, made available to the public in such a way that members of the public may access the Work from a place and at a time individually chosen by them;
2.4. inclusion of the Work into a collective work (i.e. with a number of contributions);
2.5. inclusion of the Work in the electronic version to be offered on an electronic platform, or any other conceivable introduction of the Work in its electronic version to the Internet;
2.6. dissemination of electronic versions of the Work in its electronic version online, in a collective work or independently;
2.7. making the Work in the electronic version available to the public in such a way that members of the public may access the Work from a place and at a time individually chosen by them, in particular by making it accessible via the Internet, Intranet, Extranet;
2.8. making the Work available according to appropriate license pattern Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0) as well as another language version of this license or any later version published by Creative Commons.
3. The Author grants the Publisher permission to reproduce a single copy (print or download) and royalty-free use and disposal of rights to compilations of the Work and these compilations.
4. The Author grants the Publisher permission to send metadata files related to the Work, including to commercial and non-commercial journal-indexing databases.
5. The Author represents that, on the basis of the license granted in the present Agreement, the Publisher is entitled and obliged to:
5.1. allow third parties to obtain further licenses (sublicenses) to the Work and to other materials, including derivatives thereof or compilations made, based on or including the Work, whereas the provisions of such sub-licenses will be the same as with the Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0) Creative Commons sub-license or another language version of this license, or any later version of this license published by Creative Commons;
5.2. make the Work available to the public in such a way that members of the public may access the Work from a place and at a time individually chosen by them, without any technological constraints;
5.3. appropriately inform members of the public to whom the Work is to be made available about sublicenses in such a way as to ensure that all parties are properly informed (appropriate informing messages).
6. Because of the royalty-free provision of services of the Author (resulting from the scope of obligations stipulated in the present Agreement), the Author shall not be entitled to any author’s fee due and payable on the part of the Publisher (no fee or royalty is payable by the Publisher to the Author).
7.1. In the case of third party claims or actions for indemnity against the Publisher owing to any infractions related to any form of infringement of intellectual property rights protection, including copyright infringements, the Author is obliged to take all possible measures necessary to protect against these claims and, when as a result of legal action, the Publisher, or any third party licensed by the Publisher to use the Work, will have to abandon using the Work in its entirety or in part or, following a court ruling in a legal challenge, to pay damages to a third party, whatever the legal basis
7.2. The Author will immediately inform the Publisher about any damage claims related to intellectual property infringements, including the author’s proprietary rights pertaining to a copyrighted work, filed against the Author. of liability, the Author is obliged to redress the damage resulting from claims made by third party, including costs and expenditures incurred in the process.
7.3. To all matters not settled herein provisions of the Polish Civil Code and the Polish Copyright and Related Rights Act shall apply.