Professional Bio

Jacob Rieker is a language teacher educator and researcher. He has taught English for Specific Purposes in a variety of multilingual settings (e.g., English for English-Medium Instruction Faculty, English for International Teaching Assistants, Hospitality English, English for Academic Purposes) as well as graduate courses in Applied Linguistics and English Language Teacher Education (e.g., Qualitative Research Methods, ESL Methods, Theory and Research in Language Teacher Education). Running throughout his work is a commitment to the development and implementation of responsive, context-sensitive pedagogy. Jacob Rieker’s research interests include language teacher education, second language pedagogy, and English for Specific Purposes, with an emphasis on faculty professional development in English-Medium Instruction contexts. In both his pedagogy and publications, he engages Vygotskian Sociocultural Theory to promote and document teacher and faculty development. His work in these areas has appeared in venues including Journal of English-Medium Instruction, Research Methods in Applied Linguistics, Second Language Teacher Education, Language and Sociocultural Theory, TESL-EJ, and Advances in Health Sciences Education. 

Select Recent Publications

Rieker, J., & Doran, M. (2025). Making time count: Kairos as temporal, methodological, and ethical innovation in qualitative applied linguistics research. Research Methods in Applied Linguistics, 4(2), 100207. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.rmal.2025.100207 

Doran, M., Rieker, J., & Yang, Y. (2025). Redefining faculty preparedness in English-medium instruction: Impact from an innovative professional development initiative in Taiwan. Journal of English-Medium Instruction, 4(2), 145–165. https://doi.org/10.1075/jemi.24006.dor 

Johnson, K. E., Golombek, P. R., & Rieker, J. (Eds.) (2025). Transformative L2 teacher education innovations: Insights from Vygotskian sociocultural theory. Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781003505143 

Doran, M., & Rieker, J. (2025). L2 teacher educators as creators of EMI faculty development: How imagination makes pedagogical innovation possible. In K. E. Johnson, P. R. Golombek, & J. Rieker (Eds.), Transformative L2 teacher education innovations: Insights from Vygotskian sociocultural theory (pp. 228–252). Routledge. http://dx.doi.org/10.4324/9781003505143-11  

Rieker, J. (2025). Examining the role of language teacher educator intentionality in leveraging novice teacher emotions as sites for professional development: A Vygotskian sociocultural theoretical perspective. In M. N. Karimi, L. J. Pentón Herrera, & B. Mansouri (Eds.), Teacher emotions as personal and professional development in applied linguistics (pp. 280–300). Multilingual Matters. 

Diaz, B., Rieker, J., & Ng, S. (2023). Teaching critical reflection in health professions education with Transformative-Vygotskian Praxis. Advances in Health Sciences Education, 28, 1191–1204. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10459-023-10209-y 

Rieker, J., & Johnson, K. E. (2023). Dialogic restorying: A novel methodology for provoking second language teacher development across the career span. Teaching English as a Second Language Electronic Journal (TESL-EJ), 27(2). https://doi.org/10.55593/ej.27106s5. 

Diaz, B., Rieker, J., & Ng, S. (2023). Teaching critical reflection in health professions education with Transformative-Vygotskian Praxis. Advances in Health Sciences Education. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10459-023-10209-y.

Rieker, J. (2022). Escaping the “Mimicking circle” in the teaching practicum: The role of imitation in promoting language teacher identity development. Language and Sociocultural Theory, 9(1), 69–90. https://doi.org/10.1558/lst.21966.

Rieker, J. (2022). Making microteaching matter: A playful Vygotskian reconceptualization. Second Language Teacher Education, 1(1), 3–23. https://doi.org/10.1558/slte.20306.

Rieker, J. (2020). Moving toward embodiment in language teacher education: A Vygotskian sociocultural perspective. The European Journal of Applied Linguistics and TEFL, 9(2), 173–188.