Much has been written about the centrality of psychology in second language (L2) teaching and learning (e.g., Dörnyei, 2005; Gardner, 1985; William & Burden, 1997). Despite this centrality, the literature, to date, has failed to address the multidimensionality of language teacher psychology in a coherent way. To capture this multidimensionality, Mercer and Kostoulas write an authoritative, timely volume entitled Language Teacher Psychology for the book series Psychology of Language Learning and Teaching edited by Sarah Mercer and Stephen Ryan. Their volume consists of 19 chapters, a foreword, references, and an index. In the foreword, Zoltán Dörnyei laments that applied linguistics research into second language acquisition (SLA) has emphasised the language learner and neglected the language teacher psychology which can significantly impact the quality of language learning and student learning outcomes. In Chapter 1, Sarah Mercer and Achilleas Kostoulas locate the field of language teacher psychology on the map of SLA and provide an illuminating rationale for the significance of this new field in a learner-focused and learner-focusing pedagogy.
