Language Teaching Research 13,2 (2009); pp. 223–229 © The Author(s), 2009. Reprints and permissions: http://www.sagepub.co.uk/journalspermissions.nav 10.1177/1362168809103452 Book reviews Hedy M. McGarrell (Ed.) (2007). Language teacher research in the Americas. Alexandria, VA: TESOL. 203 pp. $29.95 (TESOL non-member), $22.95 (TESOL member) (paperback). ISBN 978-1931185424. Traditionally, the story of language teaching has been told by university- based researchers, who have produced the knowledge base for language teachers. In constructing this story, researchers have been awarded the status of experts, and evidence suggests that teachers have passively accepted a role as consumers of the work of academic experts (Stewart, 2006). As Freeman (1998) contends, teaching has been thought of as an activity that academics research and teachers do. Stewart (2006), however, observes that many lan- guage teachers today are ‘taking control over their professional development by researching their own practice’ (p. 425–426). This evolution is evident in the growing literature on teacher-led inquiry, including for example the ‘Practitioner research’ section edited by Dick Allwright in this journal. Following in a similar vein, Language Teacher Research in the Americas is a collection of studies conducted by language teachers as part of the progressive movement toward taking control over their own professional development, and exploring and transforming their practices. This anthol- ogy illustrates how teachers at all levels can act as knowledge producers in reshaping the landscape of TESOL’s professional knowledge base (Freeman and Johnson, 1998). The book begins with an introductory chapter in which the editor briefly discusses the growing shift toward teacher-led research and the potential insti- tutional obstacles in doing teacher research. The introduction is followed by 12 original contributions from teacher researchers representing various educa- tional and sociocultural contexts in the Americas: Brazil, Canada, Columbia, Costa Rica, Ecuador, Jamaica and the USA. Each chapter follows the teacher- research cycle (Freeman, 1998). Similar to the traditional academic research genre, each chapter begins with an introduction (referred to as ‘Issue’ in this book), followed by background literature, procedures and results. A depar- ture from this genre, however, is the inclusion of a ‘Reflection’ section, in which the authors examine how the inquiries have changed their practices. Additionally, rather than being thematically organized, the contributions are arranged alphabetically, according to the first author’s surname. Due to the diversity of topics and contexts covered in this book, I highlight here just a few of the contributions in order to illustrate the range of issues and insights revealed. In exploring the links between teaching and testing, Angela Bailey, Lourdes Rey and Nayibe Rosado explain how research helped them understand that their classroom practices in a Columbian university were 223-230_LTR13(2)_103452.indd 223 3/3/2009 12:58:46 PM