Effective Foreign Language Teaching: Broadening the Concept of Content Knowledge

The genesis of classroom discursive practices as history-in-person processes

“…Students in the graduate and undergraduate programs were typically combined into one section of foreign language methodology courses. The foreign language methodology course utilized a practice-based approach to teacher preparation in which students engaged with a set of core practices, also referred to high leverage teaching practices in the literature (Glisan & Donato, 2017; Hlas & Hlas, 2012). A practice-based approach engages students in cycles of demonstration, deconstruction, rehearsal and coaching, and implementation and feedback around each core practice (Ball & Forzani, 2009; Lampert & Graziani, 2009).…”

Illuminating the Enactment of High-Leverage Teaching Practices in an Exemplary World Language Teaching Video Library

“…This is intended to be a coached and scaffolded process. The phase of deconstructing teaching practices is essential given that the micro-practices from complex teaching practices are difficult not only to perceive through observation but also to envision and then enact based purely on theoretical descriptions (Glisan & Donato, 2017). As a result, high-leverage teaching practice, anchored in practice-based theories of teaching and as a practical approach to teacher education programs and to instruction itself, has emerged as a central focus in the field.…”

“…Specific HLTPs were first identified through theoretical and empirical studies across different curricular areas, such as mathematics (e.g., Ball et al, 2009), history (e.g., Fogo, 2014), and science (e.g., Windschitl, Thompson, Braaten, & Stroupe, 2012). In the teacher preparation community, various terms and definitions are employed when discussing practice, such as best practices (Daniels, Zemelman, & Hyde, 2005; Pufahl, Rhodes, & Christian, 2001; Stone, 2007), core practices (Dutro & Cartun, 2016; McDonald et al, 2013; Windschitl et al, 2012), high-leverage teaching practices (Davin & Troyan, 2015; Glisan & Donato, 2017; Hlas & Hlas, 2012), and high-leverage practices (Troyan et al, 2013). Given the potential ambiguity with such diverse constructs, the term HLTP was adopted for the current study and defined as “a core set of [concrete and teachable] teaching practices that, when executed proficiently by accomplished novice teachers, are said to promote higher gains in student learning over other teaching practices” (Hlas & Hlas, 2012, p. 76).…”

“…It is reasonable to expect that practices may come in various shapes and sizes, that is, with some applying in many instructional settings and situations or permeating a great number of instructional activity (IA) types and others being quite particular in their focus or applicability to instructional environments. Various scholars in the field discuss this as a matter of “grain-size” in defining an HLTP and “micro-practice” (e.g., Ball & Forzani, 2009, 2011; Glisan & Donato, 2017; Kearney, 2015; Kennedy, 2016). Glisan and Donato (2017) provided an example of identifying grain size using leading a discussion as a large-grain-size practice that entails a set of smaller-grain-size practices, for example, situating the discussion topic within a meaningful context, motivating learners to participate, and so on.…”

“…In recent years, in response to the American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages’ (ACTFL) identified research priority—high-leverage teaching practices (HLTPs)—a few studies on world language (WL) teacher education are situated in a practice-based approach (Davin & Troyan, 2015; Hlas & Hlas, 2012; Kearney, 2015; Troyan, Davin, & Donato, 2013). A growing strand of research has begun to identify and decompose HLTPs in WL instruction (Glisan & Donato, 2017; Hlas & Hlas, 2012; Kearney, 2015; Troyan et al, 2013).…”