Introduction

Abstract

Over the last 20 years the educational policy of mainstreaming English as a Second Language (ESL) has been presented as a means of catering for the language learning needs of ESL students within mainstream subject contexts through the integration of the ESL curriculum into mainstream programmes. As such, the policy of mainstreaming is one that is based on improving the educational opportunities for ESL students and their post-schooling destinations. One of the ways that the integration of ESL students into the mainstream curriculum can be achieved is through ESL and content teachers working together in classroom contexts (Davison, 2001; Leung, 2004). Teacher collaboration is a routine practice for many teachers working in multilingual and multicultural schools in English-speaking countries and yet these collaborations are largely under-researched and under-theorised.