Professional Development for Foreign Language Teachers
Joy Kreeft Peyton

Due to a rapidly changing student population, nationwide education reform, and the development of national standards in foreign language education, many new demands are being placed on foreign language teachers. Curtain and Pesola (1994) claim that foreign language teachers today "require a combination of competencies and background that may be unprecedented in the preparation of language teachers" (p. 241). Both they and Tedick and Walker (1996) list a number of factors that make the teaching of foreign languages especially challenging, and strong professional development critical.

	Second language teachers in all settings are working with student populations that are culturally, socioeconomically, linguistically, and academically diverse. Some of these students--heritage language students--speak the target language at home or have some familiarity with it; as a result, these students have very different proficiencies and needs than the monolingual English speakers that foreign language teachers are accustomed to working with (Campbell, 1996; Valdes, 1995).
	Students want to learn foreign languages for many different reasons, and they have many different ways of learning. Therefore, foreign language curricula and instruction must address a wide range of student goals and learning styles.
	The current emphasis on the exclusive use of the target language in the classroom requires teachers to have strong language skills.
	The emphasis on thematic learning requires teachers to be knowledgeable about and have a strong vocabulary in the thematic areas being explored; to be responsive to student interests in various topics; and to be able to work in teams with content-area teachers.
	The emphasis on collaborative learning and student self-directed learning requires teachers to be able to act as facilitators, guides, counselors, and resources in addition to serving as language experts.
	Teachers may be called upon to teach at more grade levels than they have in the past. For example, in July 1989, the North Carolina Board of Education approved a new certification standard that requires all foreign language teachers entering the profession to be certified in K-12, rather than in K-6 or 7-12 as had previously been the case (Curtain and Pesola, 1994).
	Teachers need to be able to use a variety of new technologies and need to know what technologies are available and how they can be used to support instruction.

What Teachers Need To Know

When foreign language teachers enter the profession, they need to have strong language proficiency and background knowledge, and they need to improve their skills and knowledge throughout their careers. They need a thorough grounding in the liberal arts and academic content areas as well as in the linguistic and cultural areas of the language(s) they teach. They need to be able to use the second language for speaking, listening, reading, and writing in real-life contexts for both social and professional purposes. In many cases, they will need to teach academic content in the second language (Guntermann, 1992). Teachers must be able to comprehend contemporary media--both oral and written--and to interact effectively with native speakers in the United States and abroad (Phillips, 1991).

Regardless of the language proficiency that foreign language teachers possess when they begin teaching, the maintenance and improvement of their language skills must be an ongoing process. Teachers continuously encounter new communicative tasks, but their proficiency may not automatically improve if their use of the language is restricted to the classroom. Therefore, teachers need to talk with native or fluent speakers of the target language about a wide range of topics and to read extensively in the target language to maintain and expand their vocabulary, language proficiency, and cultural awareness.

Teachers also need to understand the social, political, historical, and economic realities of the regions where the language they teach is spoken. Pedagogical knowledge and skills are also essential, including knowledge about human growth and development, learning theory, second language acquisition theory, and a repertoire of strategies for developing proficiency and cultural understanding in all students, not just the academically gifted ones (Guntermann, 1992). Finally, teachers need to know how to integrate various technologies into their lesson plans.

Some states have developed lists of the competencies that foreign language teachers should have, the experiences they need to develop those competencies (such as studying abroad), and the resources that are available to aid in their professional development. One such resource for elementary and middle school teachers is the Elementary School (K-8) Foreign Language Teacher Education Curriculum, developed by the North Carolina Department of Public Instruction and the Center for Applied Linguistics (1992).¹

How Teachers' Knowledge and Skills Are Developed

In most states, teachers must continue to accumulate academic credits to keep their teaching licenses current. This can be done by taking evening courses or by attending summer seminars, lectures, or workshops offered by professional associations or universities. Phillips (1991) outlines a number of formal and informal ways that teachers can improve their language proficiency and cultural knowledge. Formal opportunities include study- and travel-abroad programs, summer institutes, and seminars; informal opportunities, which can be arranged locally, include immersion weekends or monthly dinners where current events and other issues are discussed in the target language. Tedick and Tischer (1996) describe a summer language immersion program that helps preservice and inservice teachers of French, German, and Spanish to develop language proficiency and knowledge about current topics in the target culture and to enrich their pedagogical knowledge. Glisan and Phillips (1988) describe a program that prepares teachers to teach content using the foreign language in immersion or partial immersion schools.²

The federal government offers a variety of programs that support teachers' continuing education, including summer postsecondary courses funded by the National Endowment for the Humanities and projects in curriculum and materials development sponsored by the Fund for the Improvement of Postsecondary Education (FIPSE). The National Foreign Language Resource Centers, funded under Title VI of the Higher Education Act and managed by the U.S. Department of Education's Center for International Education, provide for the continuing education of teachers on university campuses across the country. These centers create opportunities for K-12 and postsecondary teachers to collaborate with and learn from one another throughout the school year and in summer programs. Recent federal initiatives in foreign language education are described in "Federal Support for Foreign Language Education."

How Teachers' Knowledge and Skills Are Measured

As in all areas of education, there is a great deal of interest among foreign language educators in measuring and documenting teachers' skills for entry-level and ongoing certification and licensure. A number of efforts to develop teacher standards and proficiency measures are under way. For example, the American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages (ACTFL, 1988) developed guidelines for teacher education programs. These guidelines recommend that teachers entering the field attain proficiency in listening, speaking, and reading equivalent to the Advanced High level on the ACTFL rating scale, and proficiency in writing equivalent to the Advanced level.³ These guidelines have been endorsed and adopted by the American Association of Teachers of Spanish and Portuguese (1990) and the American Association of Teachers of German (1993). The American Association of Teachers of French (1989) developed its own guidelines.

Other efforts are also under way. The Council of Chief State School Officers (CCSSO) is coordinating the establishment of state-developed standards for the licensing of beginning teachers (including foreign language teachers) through a project called the Interstate New Teacher Assessment and Support Consortium (CCSSO, 1995; Heining-Boynton, 1996; Zimmer-Loew, 1996). In addition, the Educational Testing Service is revising the National Teachers Examination, which includes assessment of foreign language ability. Finally, the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards (1990) is creating a voluntary national system to develop advanced teacher standards and to certify expert teachers at all levels (in other words, teachers of children, adolescents, and adults) and in all subjects, including foreign languages. Certifications have been approved for eight subject areas, and more than 100 teachers have been named National Board certified teachers. The National Board plans to develop guidelines in 1998 for the awarding of certificates to foreign language teachers, with the first certificates to be awarded in the year 2000 (Heining-Boynton, 1996; Zimmer-Loew, 1996).

Some educators propose that states establish requirements for teacher certification and license renewal that encourage teachers to continue their professional development. Several states are developing standards and tests of language proficiency for licensure; at this point, however, information regarding these efforts is incomplete. The Joint National Committee for Languages (JNCL, 1994, 1995, and 1997) and the National Council of State Supervisors of Foreign Languages conducted state surveys on standards and professional development for foreign language teachers. They found that many states were still in the planning stages regarding credentialing requirements and standards for licensure. In 1997, only slightly more than half of the states that responded to the survey (21 out of 40) had a strategic plan for the professional development of teachers; of those, 19 said that foreign language teachers were included in the plan. Also in 1997, the Center for Applied Linguistics conducted a comprehensive national survey of foreign language programs that included questions about elementary and secondary school teacher competencies. The results of this survey will be available in 1998 and will give a broad picture of requirements across the states. (See AA National Survey of K-12 Foreign Language Education" for a summary of the findings.)

Recommendations for Teacher Education

Even with all of these efforts, there remains a great deal to be done to ensure high-quality teaching of foreign languages in the United States. Lange (1991), Phillips and Lafayette (1996), and Tedick and Walker (1996) make a number of recommendations for teacher preparation programs and describe some initiatives that are currently under way.

	Teacher education must shift from a focus on solely preservice training to one on lifelong professional development.
	Language teacher preparation should not be separated into different departments--English as a second language (ESL), foreign language, bilingual, and immersionCbut should focus on preparing teachers to teach in more than one second-language context (for example, in both ESL and foreign language classes or in both elementary and secondary school foreign language classes). This is already occurring in some preservice teacher preparation programs and graduate school inservice courses. For example, in the preservice teacher education program at the University of Minnesota, students can seek certification in two areas; most choose ESL and a foreign language. They begin their study by examining issues of language learning and teaching that are universal across second-language-learning contexts, and they observe classroom instruction and do their student teaching in a variety of settings.
	Rather than beginning with academic coursework and educational theory and moving later to classroom practice, teacher education programs must integrate theory and practice from the start. At the University of Minnesota, for example, preservice teachers are involved in schools from the beginning of their academic study, and they do their student teaching while they continue studying at the university.
	Teacher preparation programs need to expand their criteria for graduation beyond language proficiency and academic achievement to include experience with different cultures (both in the United States and abroad), the ability to work with diverse learners from many educational backgrounds and in a variety of educational settings, and the ability to use state-of-the-art technologies in instruction.
	High enrollments, teacher retirement, and teacher attrition have led to widespread teacher shortages, a trend that is expected to continue for the next several decades (Guntermann, 1992). Of the 40 states that responded to JNCL's 1997 survey, 34 said they were experiencing teacher shortages. As a result, many states are granting emergency teacher certification to individuals who meet certain criteria (for example, a college degree, proficiency in the language, teaching experience, and pedagogy coursework). As a short-term solution, states need to make available professional development activities such as university courses and summer workshops to facilitate the recertification or relicensure of inservice teachers who have a foreign language background. In the long term, higher education programs need to encourage teachers to obtain dual certification as elementary, middle, or high school teachers and as language teachers who meet certain proficiency requirements (Curtain and Pesola, 1994). Also, persons of color must be actively recruited by schools and university departments as teachers of foreign languages, a long-overdue change that has many other benefits in addition to addressing teacher shortages.4
	Teachers of ESL, bilingual, and foreign language classes need to form strong partnerships that allow for the sharing of information, curricula, strategies, and support across disciplines, departments, schools, and levels. Partnerships also need to be formed among institutions. Schools, professional organizations, universities, community colleges, and local and state leaders all need to collaborate to enhance the quality of second language education in the United States.

Conclusion

This is an exciting time for language teachers, but it is also a challenging one. Teachers cannot and will not face the needed changes alone. Rather, the schools that employ them and the institutions that educate them need to be as involved as the teachers themselves in building their knowledge and skills throughout their careers. Therefore, Ait is incumbent on foreign language education programs to provide teachers with the decision-making, reflective, and evaluative skills necessary to respond to the needs of the learners of the ever-changing classrooms of the twenty-first century" (F. Zephir, quoted in Phillips and Lafayette, 1996, page 201). Phillips adds, "The bottom line is power." Teachers need not only knowledge and skills, but also the power to pursue their goals and to make decisions that will lead to better education for their students.

References

American Association of Teachers of French. October 1989. "The Teaching of French: A Syllabus of Competence." AATF National Bulletin 15, Special Issue.

American Association of Teachers of German. 1993. "Professional Standards for Teachers of German." Die Unterrichtspraxis 26 (1): 80-96.

American Association of Teachers of Spanish and Portuguese. 1990. "AATSP Program Guidelines for the Education of Teachers of Spanish and Portuguese." Hispania 73 (3): 785-794.

American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages. 1986. Proficiency Guidelines. Yonkers, NY: Author.

American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages. 1988. "ACTFL Provisional Program Guidelines for Foreign Language Teacher Education." Foreign Language Annals 21 (1): 71-82.

Campbell, R. N. 1996. "New Learners and New Environments: Challenges and Opportunities." In R. C. Lafayette, ed., National Standards: A Catalyst for Reform. Lincolnwood, IL: National Textbook Company.

Council of Chief State School Officers. 1995. States' Status on Standards: Findings From the Conference on Standards-Focused Collaboration To Improve Teaching and Learning. Washington, DC: Author.

Curtain, H., and C. Pesola. 1994. Languages and Children: Making the Match. White Plains, NY: Longman.

Glisan, E. W. 1996. "A Collaborative Approach to Professional Development." In R. C. Lafayette, ed., National Standards: A Catalyst for Reform. Lincolnwood, IL: National Textbook Company.

Glisan, E. W., and J. K. Phillips. 1988. "Foreign Languages and International Studies in the Elementary School: A Program of Teacher Preparation." Foreign Language Annals 21 (6): 527-533.

Guntermann, G. 1992. "Developing Tomorrow's Teachers of World Languages." ERIC Digest. Washington, DC: ERIC Clearinghouse on Languages and Linguistics. ERIC Document Reproduction Service No. ED 350 880.

Heining-Boynton, A. L. 1996. "Standards and Foreign Language Teacher Education: Developing New Professionals During a Time of Reform." In R. C. Lafayette, ed., National Standards: A Catalyst for Reform. Lincolnwood, IL: National Textbook Company.

Joint National Committee for Languages. 1997. Professional Development for Foreign Language Teachers: Preparing Educators for the 21st Century. Washington, DC: Author.

Joint National Committee for Languages and the National Council of State Supervisors of Foreign Languages. 1994. The Impact of Education Reform: A Survey of State Activities. Washington, DC: Authors. ERIC Document Reproduction Service No. ED 383 187.

Joint National Committee for Languages and the National Council of State Supervisors of Foreign Languages. 1995. Language Education at the State Level: An Update of Activities. Washington, DC: Authors. ERIC Document Reproduction Service No. ED 392 253.

Lange, D. 1991. "Implications of Recent Reports on Teacher Education Reform for Departments of Foreign Languages and Literatures." ADFL Bulletin 23 (1): 28-34.

National Board for Professional Teaching Standards. 1990. Toward High and Rigorous Standards for the Teaching Profession: Initial Policies and Perspectives. Detroit, MI: Author. ERIC Document Reproduction Service No. ED 337 440.

North Carolina Department of Public Instruction and the Center for Applied Linguistics. 1992. Elementary School (K-8) Foreign Language Teacher Education Curriculum. Washington, DC: Center for Applied Linguistics. ERIC Document Reproduction Service No. ED 342 243.

Phillips, J. K. 1991. "Upgrading the Target Language Proficiency Levels of Foreign Language Teachers." ERIC Digest. Washington, DC: ERIC Clearinghouse on Languages and Linguistics. ERIC Document Reproduction Service No. ED 328 082.

Phillips, J. K., and R. C. Lafayette. 1996. "Reactions to the Catalyst: Implications for Our New Professional Structure." In R. C. Lafayette, ed., National Standards: A Catalyst for Reform. Lincolnwood, IL: National Textbook Company.

Tedick, D. J., and C. A. Tischer. 1996. "Combining Immersion Experiences and Pedagogy for Language Teachers: Lessons Learned and Changes Implemented." Foreign Language Annals 29 (3): 415-427.

Tedick, D. J., and C. L. Walker. 1996. Foreign Languages for All: Challenges and Choices. Lincolnwood, IL: National Textbook Company.

Valdes, G. 1995. "The Teaching of Minority Languages as Academic Subjects: Pedagogical and Theoretical Challenges." The Modern Language Journal 79 (iii): 299-328.

Zimmer-Loew, H. 1996. "Professional Policy in Foreign Language Education: What It Is and How We Get It." In R. C. Lafayette, ed., National Standards: A Catalyst for Reform. Lincolnwood, IL: National Textbook Company.

Notes

¹ See also American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages, 1988; Curtain and Pesola, 1994, pp. 45-250; and Glisan, 1996, pp. 73-75, for detailed lists of necessary teacher competencies.

² See also Glisan, 1996, page 70, for other descriptions of inservice professional development opportunities.

³ See ACTFL, 1986, or the article "Current Trends in Foreign Language Assessment" for descriptions of these proficiency levels.

⁴ See Lange, 1991, for discussion.

Joy Kreeft Peyton is Director of the ERIC Clearinghouse on Languages and Linguistics at the Center for Applied Linguistics (CAL) in Washington, D.C. She is also Director of the National Clearinghouse for ESL Literacy Education and Vice President of CAL. She has had many articles published on instructional strategies for language learners and is a former teacher of Spanish. She speaks Spanish fluently.

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