Issues in Applied Linguistics

Investigations concerning the morality of teaching, a recent theme in several strands of pedagogical research, have been carried out in classrooms ranging from elementary to university level contexts. In the present qualitative study, undergraduate second language students perceived teachers’ moral agency through teachers’ use of religion as a pedagogical tool, teachers’ (re)actions in the classroom, and teachers’ judgments of students. As key participants in the research process, students identified the presence of morality in their own academic experiences, clearly articulating specific situations in which moral issues influenced second language classrooms; in addition, students analyzed effects of teachers’ moral agency on their own perspectives and actions as language students. This work demonstrates that language teachers and researchers need a heightened awareness of teachers’ moral agency in the classroom as well as a more sensitive recognition of the complex effects that teachers’ decisions, words, and actions have on students.