According to Wenger (2006) a community of practice is “a group of people who share a concern or a passion for something they do and learn how to do it better as they interact regularly”. It has three characteristics: domain, community, and practice. Belonging to a community of practice can be useful not only for professional development but for language learning.
For professional development, in the educational field, it can help teachers to solve problems in a classroom, receive and give suggestions for the development of a class, share resources, receive feedback, share experiences, build knowledge, find new approaches and methodologies, explore new technologies, hold discussions, and innovate teaching practices.
As for language learning, a community of practice can be a good strategy to encourage learners from around the world to start collaborating in their learning process and hold real communication and interaction synchronously and asynchronously. Learners can also share experiences, learning strategies, exercises, resources, web pages, and even give advices.
I have not joined any community of practice yet but as soon as I finish the master course I plan to join as many as I can, because I consider this would be a form of being updated and enhance my teaching practice. I remember when I started the master course I did not know about the multiple resources available for teachers or adaptable for teaching, but know I am aware of many of them. Nonetheless, I am also aware that there are still a lot to explore and I am sure that belonging to communities of practice will facilitate this process
