Classrooms as communities of practice: A reevaluation

The notion of community of practice (CoP), first enunciated by Lave and Wenger (1991), has become a generative theoretical framework that has been applied across a wide range of disciplines. In this article, I examine how this framework has been taken up in second language (L2) research, discuss its strengths and limitations in understanding L2 learning - particularly in classroom settings - and consider some directions for future research. However, before turning to the use that has been made of this notion in the field of L2 research, it may be helpful to discuss its evolution.