Foreign Language Student Teaching: Do Supervisor Qualifications Really Matter?

Abstract

According to national standards for foreign language (L2) teacher education programs established by the ACTFL and the Council for the Accreditation of Educator Preparation (CAEP), L2 student teachers must be supervised by university faculty who are qualified L2 educators. An exploratory study was conducted to better understand the impact of content‐specific pedagogical knowledge, L2 experience, and qualifications on the effectiveness of the university supervisor. Its purpose was to compare the beliefs of L2 teacher candidates and supervisors with and without L2 teaching qualifications to explore the extent to which these three groups share similar beliefs about effective L2 teaching. Results indicated that all participants demonstrated general pedagogical knowledge associated with good teaching practices. However, supervisors without L2 teacher training and experience were less familiar with theories of L2 acquisition, standards, and best practices than were their counterparts with L2 teaching qualifications. Lacking pedagogical content knowledge related to L2 teaching, the generalist supervisors were unable to provide appropriate feedback to their L2 interns, had lower expectations for their interns, and relied more heavily on others to provide them with support.

A survey of world language cooperating teachers: Implications for teacher development

“…The implication for the TC's experiential growth is that site and placement selection with a CT should be purposeful and in keeping with WLTD goals and standards of student achievement. Similarly, García et al (2019) reported professional insularity due to the ostensibly arbitrary CT selection by non-WLTD stakeholders and CTs' lack of knowledge of who the field supervisor was and what his/her qualifications were (see also Kissau & Algozzine, 2013).…”

Facing reality: A survey of methods instructors’ perspectives on world language teacher development

“…Due to competing demands and university‐, program‐, and department‐wide constraints, it is not surprising that fewer than half of the respondents also supervised candidates’ PreK–12 field experiences and its impact on WLTD (Kissau & Algozzine, ). The MIs who reported being fortunate to be involved in selecting cooperating teachers and practicum sites nevertheless voiced concerns about the availability of quality cooperating teachers and supervisors.…”

Pedagogical Content Knowledge in the Context of Foreign and Second Language Teaching: A Review of the Research Literature

“…When defining PCK, most studies referred to Shulman (1986;1987), who defined PCK as "that special amalgam of content and pedagogy that is uniquely the province of teachers, their own special form of professional understanding" (Shulman, 1987: 8). Only Kissau and Algozzine (2013) used the term PCK without referring to Shulman nor defining PCK. Luo (2004) only referred to Shulman, but did not define PCK.…”

“…One article focused on Spanish (Hlas & Hildebrandt, 2010), and one on French (van Compernolle & Henery, 2014). Five articles addressed a combination of languages: Spanish, French and German (Kissau & Algozzine, 2013;Watzke, 2007); English, Latin, French, German and Dutch (Meijer et al, 1999;2002), and Spanish, French, German, Italian and Portuguese (Wilbur, 2007). Most studies (n=11) focused on language learning in general.…”

“…Four studies included teachers with different levels of teaching experience. Kissau and Algozzine (2013), Luo (2004) and Richards et al (1995) included both pre-and in-service teachers. Zhang and Zhan ( 2014) compared novice teachers with experienced colleagues.…”