Although the language teaching profession has long emphasized the use of the target language in the classroom, student teachers face various challenges in their efforts to conduct class in their target language. This case study focused on 10 student teachers with respect to (1) their initial attitudes and beliefs about using the target language, (2) the extent to which they felt the target language could be used in specific activities, (3) the factors that affected their decisions regarding target language use, and (4) how their attitudes toward target language use evolved and changed during their student teaching. Sources of information included pre‐ and postquestionnaires, journal entries, and observations of student teachers' classes. Themes that emerged from student teachers' experiences are discussed, as well as possible implications for language teacher education.

Although learning to understand another culture is often mentioned as a benefit of foreign language learning, merely studying a foreign language does not automatically produce crosscultural understanding. Many students study a language only to fulfill requirements and see culture learning as a nonessential element of the curriculum. This article explains how conducting ethnographic interviews can promote openness toward culture learning. Following a brief review of the culture learning process and of attitudinal theory, the article reports on a study that replicated Robinson-Stuart and Nocon's (1996) San Diego State study in a Midwestern setting. Thirty-five college students from 2 second-year Spanish classes were introduced to ethnographic interviewing skills and assigned to interview a native speaker of Spanish. As in the previous study, the results showed that the interviews positively affected students' attitudes toward the target language and its speakers as well as their desire to learn Spanish.

This study sought to extend previous research on ethnographic interviews as a method of culture learning in foreign language classes by employing a qualitative case study methodology. Fifty‐four university students in a first‐year Spanish course worked in pairs to conduct a series of three ethnographic interviews with a native speaker of Spanish. Students reported a variety of cognitive, affective, and behavioral outcomes of the project, including (a) enhanced attitudes toward Spanish speakers and Hispanic cultures, and in some cases, new friendships with Hispanic individuals; (b) enhanced competencies in relating to and communicating with people of other cultures, including the ability to view situations from other cultural points of view; and (c) an increased awareness of the influence of their own culture in their lives.