Previous research has explored the possibility of changing preservice teachers' beliefs and has examined the role of methods courses and field experiences in shaping their pedagogical views. This study uncovers the beliefs of preservice Spanish teachers by examining how they evaluate a lesson at the beginning and end of a methodology course and…

This study investigated the relationships between the beliefs and practices of K-12 native Chinese teachers on Chinese language and literacy instruction. Using a descriptive-exploratory design, this study employed a mixed-methods approach consisting of three steps: (1) a teacher beliefs questionnaire, (2) classroom observations and videotaping,…

What does it mean to capably communicate across languages? This article introduces two theoretical models and a lesson plan format designed to facilitate the integration of proficiency, literacy, and culture teaching in foreign language teaching. The Second Symbolic Competencies Model configures proficiency and literacy as subordinate clusters of…

Many college students feel that learning a second language (L2) is necessary to bring value to their future. However, many also feel that during their years of learning an L2, the only experience they acquire starts when they enter the classroom and stops when they leave it. This view may bring a lack of engagement in learning the L2. Research has…

This article presents an approach to literary texts that develops students' language proficiency, content knowledge, and analytical skills through the interweaving of three content areas--literary analysis, stylistics, and culture--at the beginning, intermediate, and advanced levels of the foreign language curriculum. Consistent with…

This study investigates the effectiveness of deductive and guided inductive approaches for teaching grammar in college French classrooms. Forty-seven second-semester French students were taught eight grammatical structures: four with a deductive instructional approach and four with a guided inductive instructional approach. A quasi-experimental…

Examines lesson planning in light of recent research and discussion of foreign language learning and teaching. Aims to give beginning teachers a sense of the recent history of the teaching of foreign languages in North America and the theoretical foundation of the communicative approach to foreign language teaching. (Author/VWL)

This article seeks to contribute to the emerging body of research on learning to teach a second language (L2). Specifically, it examines the learning-to-teach experience of a preservice German language teacher from her own perspective illuminating the contextual, biographical, academic, and cognitive factors affecting her development (Freeman &…

A project explored university students' reactions to various lesson design features in computer-assisted French lessons. Results indicated that drill-and-practice software could incorporate mastery-level learning goals when supported by adequate learner assistance, and that computer quizzes had a useful function. (Author/CB)

Explains how language activities can become the key objectives of the foreign language or English-as-a-Second-Language lesson based on the case study. By developing a lesson plan focused on language functions and speech events, the language instructor directs learning away from business concepts toward business communication skills. (Author/VWL)

Describes a variation of content-based instruction for beginning-level language learners called content-enriched instruction (CEI). In CEI, emphasis is on cultural and real-world information, and vocabulary, grammar, and content are integrated to reflect a specific theme, or converge to represent a specific topic. (Author/CK) (28 references)

Reconceptualizes a cognitive apprenticeship method to provide foreign language teachers in charge of beginning language levels with the knowledge necessary to acquire the strategies of reciprocal teaching. The article gives teachers an example of a set of lesson plans that embeds the teaching of prerequisite declarative and procedural knowledge…

Considers common constraints placed upon large universities where teaching assistants (TAs) with no pedagogical instruction or experience often provide beginning level foreign language instruction. An approach for providing guidance to TAs includes suggestions for lesson plans, follow-up discussions, and classes oriented toward communicative…

This paper discusses steps and problems involved in self-evaluation of the teaching performances of language teacher trainees and suggests a procedure and a format based on the analysis of comments by participants completing their practice teaching. (Author/SED)

Describes a course which gives student teachers in bilingual education the opportunity to learn technical vocabulary and develop teaching skills in Spanish. The course content and procedures are outlined, the rationale for the course is noted, and techniques and sample lesson plans in science and musical literacy are described. (SED)