This article examines Slobin's concept of thinking for speaking (TFS) in the gesture/speech interface of advanced L2 speakers of English and Spanish. The focus is on the use of motion verbs in the respective languages. English, a satellite‐framed language, encodes manner of motion in the verb and indicates path of motion on satellite phrases (e.g. The frog leaped out of the boy's pocket). Spanish, a verb‐framed language, encodes path, and only rarely manner of motion, in the verb. If manner is encoded at all, it is done either through lexical phrases (e.g. Tarzan saltó de liana a liana‘Tarzan jumped from vine to vine’) or gesture. Using McNeill's notion of growth point, the study suggests that L2 speakers, even at advanced levels, have difficulties manifesting L2 TFS patterns and continue to rely on the patterns internalized in their L1. Shifting from an L1 to an L2 TFS is particularly vexing for the L1 English speakers, because their L1 is richly endowed with manner verbs, while Spanish, their L2, is not. Spanish L1 speakers in L2 English, on the other hand, can rely on the English equivalents of basic manner verbs in Spanish. The analysis also suggests the need for reconsidering how manner verbs are categorized.

A number of recent studies (see, for example, Lantolf, 2010; Negueruela & Lantolf, 2006; van Compernolle, 2011) have focused on the use of learning tools developed according to the principles of concept-based instruction (CBI). Using videorecorded data from interviews and observations of classroom instruction, our study seeks to contribute to the CBI research by examining the implementation of this framework from the perspectives of pre-service and novice teachers of French and Spanish. Therefore, the overarching goal of this study is to understand how and to what extent teachers embrace or reject a pedagogical approach that does not necessarily align with a textbook’s explanation of a grammar point. We have chosen to focus on the teaching of verbal aspect since textbooks for learners of both French and Spanish typically present rules of thumb for learning past tense use without explaining the systematic concept of verbal aspect. The case studies presented in this article demonstrate that – in some instances and for a variety of reasons – experienced, novice, and pre-service teachers prefer materials, techniques, and approaches that are more familiar, albeit not as potentially beneficial for learners.

Although the professional development of graduate students in foreign language (FL) departments is of critical importance, discussion of its significance and evolution was all but absent in the 2007 Modern Language Association report “Foreign Languages and Higher Education: New Structures for a Changed World,” a document advocating curricular and structural reforms of FL departments in forthright terms. This lacuna drove the current review, which traces the forms and foci of research appearing from 1987 to 2008 on the professional development of future professors of foreign languages. Empirical studies on the relation of graduate students’ beliefs and identities to their FL teaching experiences have integrated increasingly sophisticated research designs and theoretical frameworks over the past two decades; however, the primary focus of this field remained moving from a training perspective to a professional development perspective and substantiating this change with new practices that address FL graduate students’ long‐term needs as teachers and scholars. The authors call for a renewed focus on empirical research in this field and a more symbiotic relationship between research investigating the processes and outcomes of FL graduate student professional development and the practices called for in FL departments.

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This chapter explores the inextricable connection between the activities of speaking and thinking in first (L1) and second language (L2) communication. Inspired by notions of verbal consciousness in Sociocultural Theory (SCT) (Vygotsky 1986), motion events analysis in cognitive semantics (Talmy 1972(Talmy , 2000, and research on thinking-for-speaking (TFS) patterns in L1 acquisition research (Slobin 1996a), we analyze giving directions in L2 Spanish, which is the typological opposite of English. Specifically, we look at motion events, central when expressing trajectories and directionality. Data were transcribed and coded for motion events in Spanish and English. The analysis uncovered how fluent Spanish heritage (SH) learners face considerable challenges when giving directions in English, even with a fairly concrete task from basic courses. Typological differences between these languages explain why even advanced learners are challenged when asked for precise directions in their L2. This finding is related to research on linguistic relativity in L2 acquisition (Han and Cadierno 2010;Stam 2014). From an SCT point of view, and also based on Negueruela-Azarola (2003, 2008, 2013), a mindful conceptual engagement approach to teaching motion events for the Spanish classroom is proposed.