Dr Luis Carabantes, PhD

Profile

I have been involved in English language education since 2006 when I started to work as a teacher of English in Chile. Since then, I have taught in all the levels of education, from pre-school to English for to higher education, and as a teacher educator in undergraduate and postgraduate courses.

In 2013 I moved to the UK to do an MA in ELT and Applied Linguistics at King’s College London, and in 2020 I completed a PhD in Applied Linguistics at the UCL – Institute of Education. My research explores the intersection of teacher education and materials development. More specifically, using the sociocultural framework of Activity Theory, I look at how teachers learn to design their own teaching materials. I have published part of my research on TESOL Quarterly, The Modern Language Journal, and the ELT Journal, amongst others.

At Queen Mary, I am a Lecturer in Academic and Professional Communication at the Language Centre. My roles and responsibilities include teaching and assessing in the MA in ELT the units of Curriculum Design and Materials Evaluation, Approaches and Methods in ELT, and Second Language Acquisition. I also work designing and delivering in-sessional modules of academic language and literacy such as Project and Research Writing, which are offered to undergraduate and postgraduate students. I am also the Careers Lead of the School of Languages, Linguistics and Film.

Research

Publications

Papers in refereed journals

Carabantes, L. & Paran, A. (2022) ‘It may also be our own fault to think so, to limit them before even trying’: Assuming learner limitations during materials design in English language teacher education. TESOL Quarterly. https://doi.org/10.1002/tesq.3102

Carabantes, L. & Paran, A. (2022) ‘I Preferred to Take Another Activity from the Textbook’: An Activity-Theoretical Study of Learning to Design EFL Materials. The Modern Language Journal. https://doi.org/10.1111/modl.12803

Book reviews

Carabantes, L. (2016). Second Language Teacher Education in Chile: A Cultural Historical Activity Theory Perspective by M. Barahona. ELTED Journal 19, 54-56.

Carabantes L. & Paran, A. (2017). International Perspectives on Materials in ELT by S. Garton & K. Graves (eds.). ELT Journal. 71 (3), 377-380.

Carabantes L. & Paran, A. (2018). English Language Teaching in South America: Policy, Preparation and Practices, by L. D. Kamhi-Stein, G. Díaz-Maggioli & L. C. de Oliveira (eds.). System. 76, 236-238.

Carabantes, L. (2019). Creativity and Innovations in ELT Materials Development: Looking Beyond the Current Design by B. Dat (ed.). TESOL Quarterly. 53(1), 281-283.

Papers at Conferences

Carabantes, L. (2016). Second Language Teacher Education and Materials Development: How do teachers learn to design materials? Paper presented at the Doctoral School Summer Conference, UCL-Institute of Education, London, UK.

Carabantes, L. (2016). Materials Design in English Teacher Education: An activity-theoretical proposal to study how teachers learn to design language teaching materials. Paper presented at the TESOL Chile Conference, Universidad Católica de Temuco, Temuco, Chile.

Carabantes, L. (2017). English Language Teacher Education in Chile: the case of materials development. Paper presented at the 2nd RICELT Biannual Conference, Universidad de Santiago, Santiago, Chile.

Carabantes, L. (2017). Materials development in English language teacher education in Chile: Preliminary findings from an Activity-Theoretical study of how teachers of English learn to design language-teaching materials. Paper presented at the ELT Conference, University of East London, London.

Carabantes, L. (2017). How do preservice teachers learn to design ELT materials? Paper presented at the UCL-IoE – Waseda Exchange Programme, Waseda University, Tokyo, Japan.

Carabantes, L. (2018). How do preservice teachers learn to design ELT materials? Paper presented at the 52nd Annual International IATEFL Conference and Exhibition, Brighton, United Kingdom.

Carabantes, L. (2019). Materials Design in English Language Teacher Education: A Neglected Craft. Paper presented at the 53rd Annual International IATEFL Conference and Exhibition, Liverpool, United Kingdom.

Carabantes, L. (2019). To design or not to design: The clash between preservice teachers of English and the textbook. Paper presented at the Materials Development Association (MATSDA) Conference, Liverpool, United Kingdom.

Carabantes, L. (2021) I preferred to take another activity from the textbook: An activity-theoretical study of materials design. Paper presented at the 4th RICELT Biannual Conference. Universidad de Santiago (online), Santiago, Chile.

Carabantes, L. (2021) ‘It may also be our own fault, to limit them before even trying’: Assuming learner limitations during materials design in English language teacher education. Paper presented at The 24-Hour MATSDA International Language Learning Conference. University Sains Malaysia (online), Penang. Malaysia.

Carabantes, L. (2022) ‘Teacher Education and Textbooks: A Study of Materials Design´. Paper accepted at the 55th IATEFL Annual Conference and Exhibition, Belfast, UK.