In the light of widespread discussion of qualitative approaches to language teaching and learning research in recent years, this article reports on a survey of qualitative data‐based articles published in 10 major journals between 1997 and 2006. The survey revealed that 477 qualitative articles (22% of the total number published) had appeared in the 10 journals over this period, that the year‐by‐year totals were relatively stable over the 10‐year period of the survey, and that there was considerable variation among the journals. An analysis of the articles in terms of approaches to qualitative research showed that methodological eclecticism, rather than adherence to established traditions, is now the dominant characteristic of published qualitative work in our field.

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This article reports on an inquiry into a group of English language teachers' professional experiences that interpreted their motivation to teach and their shifting professional commitment with reference to representations and visions that they had and did not have about themselves in rural secondary schools in China's hinterland regions. It revealed that the association between the participants' social mobility and English competence and their visions of the 'ideal self' pushed them to join the teaching profession, which they disliked at the very start. Their subsequent association of teaching with their visions of the 'ideal self' in teaching paradoxically caused fluctuations in their commitment to teaching, as the pursuit of English competence and idealized professional roles were constrained by contextual realities. Due to the significant roles that these teachers have in improving English language education in China's hinterland areas, it has become imperative for teacher educators and educational administrators to take measures for retention of English teachers while supporting their professional development efforts.

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The notion of schools as ‘loosely coupled’ organizations has been widely discussed in the research literature. Many argue it is either a protective mechanism for schools to buffer external pressure or a barrier for implementing new reforms. Against the backdrop of systemic change and accountability, we applied a two-level hierarchical linear model to nationally representative data in the US, testing the ‘loosely coupled’ theory through examining the association between data-informed improvement efforts at the school level and data-informed instruction at the classroom level. Statistically significant associations were identified but with a small proportion of variance explained, indicating that the top-down systemic change strategy failed to tighten the system as intended. Alternatively, bottom-up strategies, such as professional learning communities, which operate under the assumption of working with loose coupling, should be considered.

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