Foreign Language Teacher Education: Multiple Perspectives

This report proposes a European Profile for language teacher education in the 21st century. It deals with the initial and in-service education of foreign language teachers in primary, secondary and adult learning contexts and it offers a frame of reference for language education policy makers and language teacher educators in Europe. The findings draw on consultation with a wide range of European experts on language teacher education, and on the experience of eleven European teacher education institutions. The findings also suggest guidelines for quality assurance and enhancement. By outlining the key elements in European language teacher education, the Profile aims to serve as a checklist for existing teacher education programmes and a guideline for those still being developed. The report begins by examining the context of recent European enlargement and developments in the European Commission’s policies for education and languages. It outlines the need for a Profile for foreign language teacher education in Europe and explains the rationale behind the Profile as it has been developed. It deals with the structure of educational courses, the knowledge and understanding central to foreign language teaching, the diversity of teaching and learning strategies and skills and the kinds of values language teaching should encourage and promote. Drawing on the expertise of policy makers and educators in the field of foreign language teacher education from a wide range of European countries, the Profile presents 40 key elements in language teacher education courses. It details how courses can be structured and delivered to give trainee teachers access to essential learning opportunities during initial and in-service teacher education. In particular, it focuses on innovative teacher education practices and ways of promoting cooperation, exchange and mobility among the new generation of Europe’s language teachers. In the Profile, each element is explained in detail and supported by advice, guidelines and proposals from European experts. Eleven case studies of European teacher education institutions provide exemplifications of how each element works in practice. The case studies also help identify a number of possible issues that might arise in relation to items of the Profile.

The scholarly interest in the field of foreign language teaching and learning has recently widened its scope within the competence-paradigm from learners’ competences to competences of teachers. Foreign language teacher education has thus been subject of many international and national publications and studies. Focussing on the situation of foreign language teacher education in Germany, results of international research can only partly be applied. This is primarily due to different standards in certain phases of teacher education. From a national perspective, one of the challenges in foreign language teacher education is rooted in the federal system: The 16 federal states of Germany have different regularities concerning the second phase of teacher education (in-service training). Looking at national research on foreign language teacher education, emphasis on investigating knowledge of foreign language teachers based on concepts of pedagogical content knowledge (Shulman) has to be noted. Throughout this article, we would like to critically evaluate underlying competence models, and establish lesson planning as a key category of identifying competence development of foreign language teachers. Lesson planning is conceptualised as an activity that requires language teachers to draw upon all areas of their knowledge. Presenting results of an empirical research study conducted with teacher trainees, the article concludes with relevant research foci that should be addressed in the field of foreign language teacher education.

The article is aimed at analyzing the use of ChatGPT in foreign language teacher education and its potential for advancing educational development at the university level. This article explores the transformative potential of Artificial Intelligence (in particular, ChatGPT) in foreign language teacher education by analyzing its impact on student learning outcomes. Through a comprehensive literature review, the article synthesizes current findings on the integration of ChatGPT in educational settings, examining both the benefits and challenges it presents. The study explores into ChatGPT’s role in personalizing studying experiences, enhancing student engagement, and improving academic performance. The authors demonstrate the potential of ChatGPT in teaching disciplines related to studying foreign languages and the methodology of teaching foreign languages. The article emphasizes the importance of formulating clear and precise prompts as well as providing feedback for ChatGPT. The authors also suggest tasks with the use of ChatGPT that are appropriate for the professional training of future foreign language teachers (in particular, teachers of English in primary school). The article provides the examples of using the tasks mentioned above in the process of training students of specialty 013 "Primary education" (the educational and professional programs "Primary Education" and "Primary Education and English Language"). The authors illustrate ChatGPT prompts and its responses during practical classes of the courses "English for Professional Purposes", "Innovative Technologies of Teaching English" and "Methodology of Teaching English in Primary School". This research also suggests avenues for future inquiry, contributing to a deeper understanding of how ChatGPT can be effectively and responsibly integrated into foreign language teacher education, in particular, into training future teachers of English in primary school, to optimize students’ success.

This article proposes a refl ection on the status attributed by public schools to the compulsory teacher training taken by undergraduate students of Languages, as well as the role played by students-teachers and foreign language teacher training supervisors in the matter, based on the author’s experience as a teacher training supervisor in a university in the south of Brazil. The article starts with a description of the new teacher training courses set by the Language Institute of the university, and is followed by an analysis of the underlying reasons for the changes taken into effect. Both the description and the analysis take into consideration (i) the national policies to foreign language (FL) teaching and learning and (ii) the general context in which foreign languages are taught in public schools. Possible outcomes deriving from such changes are also discussed. Keywords: FL teacher education. Curriculum. National policies to FL teaching and learning. Language teachers’ professional development.

The article describes the key features of the system of foreign language teacher professional training in Bukovina in 1918 to 1940. Bukovina is an area of present-day Western Ukraine, which in the period under study belonged to Romania. The study has been carried out in the form of an analysis of the components constituting the system of foreign language teacher education: the discussion begins with the preconditions for establishing pedagogical practices in training future teachers from the historical-social and administrative-territorial perspectives; then the structural aspects and educational policymaking issues of the institutions responsible for foreign language teacher training in Bukovina, as well as their activities aimed at providing professional support for in-service teachers, have been studied; finally, the structure and content of both the curricula and textbooks used in foreign language teachers’ education have been critically analysed. The deliberations brought the authors to conclude that the methods of teaching foreign languages most widely used and supported by the government in the period under study in Bukovina were the Direct and Mixed methods. At the same time, the analysis of governmental policy of the ruling state contributed to the process of Romanianisation of the Ukrainians, depriving young people of the opportunity to gain secondary and higher education in their native language, while discriminating against the school graduates on their ethnicity as the criterion for enrolment of university applicants for a degree in teaching foreign languages.

This article describes current practice in foreign language teacher education programs—middle-school through post-secondary levels—and provides recommendations for change that might be facilitated through the development of a national foreign language pedagogical research agenda. Discussion of teacher education practices centers around the following concerns: (1) policies regarding the admission and retention of students; (2) the content of teacher education programs, including core courses in the subject-matter specialization or major, professional education courses, and instruction in methodology; (3) preservice teaching experiences; (4) certification standards; and (5) in-service opportunities and maintenance of professional skills. The qualifications of teacher-training personnel, for both secondary and post-secondary settings, are also discussed. Recommendations for the development of a national agenda are grouped into three categories: (1) research and development activities; (2) in-service development opportunities; and (3) opportunities for leadership training. Such an agenda should aid the profession in its efforts to bring about needed change in the education and development of the nation's foreign language teachers.

The aim of the paper is to present the results of a pilot project for foreign language (FL) teacher education, in which trainee teachers’ knowledge and awareness of intercultural and cross-educational similarities and differences between two cooperating institutions from socio-culturally and linguistically distant countries – Israel and Poland – are elicited. The data collected serves as a springboard for designing an international project for FL trainee teachers to be implemented as a part of a teacher training course. In the project the trainee teachers coming from geographically, culturally and linguistically detached backgrounds, Israeli and Polish, are to participate in tandem learning understood as paired sessions of knowledge and experience exchange between FL trainee teachers via online communicators. The pilot phase, therefore, is an initial but indispensable stage evaluating the extent to which trainee teachers are ready to confront and share their educational background, cultural and linguistic knowledge with their peers from a geographically and socio-culturally distant country. A group of fourteen trainee teachers of Opole University participated in the pilot project measuring the participants’ readiness to engage in crossing the aforementioned borders with the help of a closed and open-item questionnaire focusing on the degrees of awareness of a number of aspects, for instance, culture and L1-based differences in approaching FL teaching. The application of the instrument generated quantitative and qualitative data, whose analysis supported the design of the final Tandem Learning Teacher Training (TLTT) program.

This study investigated foreign language (FL) teachers’ experiences of the virtual classroom during COVID-19 lockdown. The sample consisted of 405 FL teachers who participated in the survey which aimed to measure FL teachers’ perceptions of TPACK, virtual classroom activities, online self-efficacy, student engagement and encountered obstacles. The findings indicate that teachers working in remote areas practice fewer virtual classroom activities and thus perceive low student online engagement. The article discusses the differences between FL teachers regarding the FL they teach, i.e., differences in student online engagement exist between the FL taught, and differences in virtual classroom activities depend on the FL taught. In addition, school stage predicts FL teachers’ online self-efficacy and the relationship between teachers’ perceptions of TPACK and school size exists.

This article is about language development of a foreign language (FL) teacher and is centred around the concept of teacher professional competence. Although the definition seems clear and indisputable, no publication has been traced that would clarify what a FL teacher language competence is. It immediately leads to diverse and sometimes contradictory views of content and language skills a FL teacher is supposed to demonstrate. I use this fact as a starting point and make an attempt to provide my view of a FL teacher language competence and essential elements that comprise it. My contention is that besides ‘general language’ and language awareness, a FL teacher should demonstrate skills in classroom and out-of-classroom communication. I support my view by coming out with a tentative and, at the moment, rather schematic description of FL teacher language competence. I consider this as the first step toward the definition of language teacher language competence to be followed by substantial empirical research which, hopefully, will contribute to a valid and more detailed description of the concept in question.

Can we really talk about the education of foreign language teachers? Or, more accurately, are we dealing with the process of shaping future teachers of English, German, Romance languages, Slavic languages, etc.? Which fields of research should be considered in this context? Which discipline leads the way: the humanities, or perhaps, in parallel, the social sciences? What are the core disciplines that provide the foundation for acquiring knowledge, developing skills, and shaping the attitudes of future foreign language teachers? What is the interplay between these fields, and where do their scientific boundaries lie? What constitutes the optimal environment for preparing trainees? Furthermore, in which language should this process of developing foreign language teachers take place? This article seeks to answer these and similar questions by integrating insights from disciplines such as linguistics, psychology, pedagogy, and (glotto)didactics, as well as many other disciplines. The goal of this text is to highlight the unique synergy of this specific scientific environment in the contemporary process of educating foreign language teachers, and to explore the processes of learning and teaching these languages. The article is divided into three sections: a theoretical and historical part, which includes an analysis of selected documents and texts; a contemporary part, which examines the current state through the lens of practical educational research; and a prognostic part, which outlines future research perspectives and formulates new hypotheses.

Research-oriented programs related to pre-service teacher education are practically non-existent in many countries. Since in Portugal we now have a stable legal system for initial teacher training, how can we help these countries to respond to their teacher training needs and accomplish these same standards? How can we create an international program at MA level that could serve such an objective? What are the research priorities for teachers in primary and secondary education? I will claim for a new general research policy using small-scale research projects in foreign language teaching (FLT), which illustrated a turning point in advanced research in foreign languages teacher training. Presently, researchers no longer narrow their inquiries into linguistic questions or school and student-centered actions. Instead, they focus on a range of issues such as teacher-centered actions, beliefs and policies, and aspects of FLT such as literacy education, special educational needs or methods for teaching gifted students. Despite a lack of funding at all levels, many research projects in teacher education have been undertaken, and new areas have been explored, such as didactic transposition, literary and information literacies, intercultural learning, corpora in FLT, new information and communication technologies in FLT, interlingual inferencing, national standards for foreign language education, FLT for specific purposes, digital narratives in education, CLIL, assessment, and language learning behaviors. This small sample of the many areas covered proves that advanced research in teacher education can also be very useful to promote the growing interest in further internationalization in other sciences (beyond human and social areas) traditionally linked to politics, business and industry (computing, chemistry, biology, medicine, etc.), something that can only be attained by focusing on multilingualism, multi-literacy and lifelong learning.

Action research (AR) as a research method has been recommended in the process of educating foreign language (FL) teachers as well as developing their teaching skills for decades. Many teacher education experts, including Elliott (1991) are of the opinion that the method contributes to teachers’ professional develpoment as they can extend their theoretical knowledge of the processes of learning and teaching through gaining the practical knowledge. Moreover, action research evokes the need for reflection upon one’s teaching activities. One may wonder whether FL teacher-practitoners apply AR in their teaching and how, if at all, it influences their classroom teaching. In order to learn about it, the author of the article conducted a questionnaire which provides interesting information about FL teachers’ attitude towards AR. The article aims at promoting AR as well as encouraging FL teachers and teacher-trainees to use the method in their work.

Foreign language teacher education in Turkey: A historical overview

The Perception of Primary Stress in Initially Extended Simple Sentences: A Demonstration by Computer in Foreign Language Teacher Training

In the last decade renewed interest has been focused on modern foreign language programs in American schools.' Statistics show a phenomenal growth in the teaching of foreign languages at the elementary level. In 1952 only eighty-nine communities had some foreign language teaching in the public elementary schools as compared with 2,443 in 1959-1960.2 Texas has strong ties with the Spanishspeaking world, both culturally and geographically. In many areas of the state large segments of the population are Spanish-speaking. Breunig's survey in 19591960 showed that Spanish is the only language taught to any appreciable extent in the public elementary schools of Texas.: Yet this same survey lists Spanish programs in only 136 schools, kindergarten through grade six.4 In view of the continuing emphasis being placed on the teaching of foreign languages at the elementary level, there seems to be a need for reevaluation of the foreign language programs in Texas elementary schools. The purpose of this study was to determine the status of the teaching of modern foreign languages in selected public elementary schools of Texas during the school year, 1962-1963. The sampling consisted of the 282 public school systems whose high school or high schools are members of the Southern Association of Colleges and Secondary Schools. It was on the assumption that the systems accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Secondary Schools represent quality of program at all levels, that these systems were chosen to comprise the sampling of this study. Post cards with attached reply cards were sent to the superintendents of these systems to determine if a modern foreign language is taught in their elementary and secondary schools. A return of 254, or 90.1 per cent, was received. Questionnaires were sent to the sixtythree systems which reported FLES programs. The questionnaire was composed of thirty-two closed-end and three open-end items and dealt with the following topics: (1) the scope of the FLES program; (2) the qualifications of persons presenting instruction; (3) methods, techniques, aids, testing procedures, and special features of the program; and (4) evaluation of the program by the reporter. Useable replies were received from fifty-four, or 85.7 per cent, of the systems. The data were analyzed primarily according to the total number of responses. Where size of school system was found to be a significant factor, the data were cate-