role of in-service teacher education in implementing tblt in an efl context: a case study in a mexican university

Recently, effective in-service education in tblt and continued support for teachers have been highlighted as key in harnessing tblt benefits. however, little is known about the education that teachers receive in tblt and how their interpretations and views evolve over time in the classroom. to address this, the present study provides evidence of a group of english as a foreign language (efl) teachers’ perceptions and experiences as they receive training on tblt during two sessions of one week each over 16 months in a mexican university. drawing on questionnaires and a focus group, we found that the teachers maintained positive attitudes towards tblt as an approach which improves their teaching practices and particularly language learning and student communication. however, despite hands-on opportunities to try out and experiment with tblt in their classroom contexts, the teachers reported a number of complex, contextual, and influential factors that hindered them from fully implementing the approach, and instead encouraged them to adapt tasks and develop a version of tblt better suited for the educational context. the study contributes to our understanding of the complex ways in which contextual factors can shape the implementation of theory-based approaches in the classroom, with implications for tblt teacher education.