This page provides foreign language educators with resources to help improve and support their chosen methods for foreign language teaching. Here one can access the major components of the course Methods in Teaching a Foreign Language that is offered here at Washington and Lee.
Information for Community Educators
The Virginia Department of Education recently accredited Washington and Lee's Teacher Education Program of which foreign language education is a major component. But the foreign language element is much more than just a single methods course and practicum for future teachers. Two students (Richardson and Farrar) are working with two professors (Kuettner and O'jure) in an effort to make the FL program's offerings unique. Goals for the project are multi-fold and include (1) researching and organizing course content, (2) developing an informative and useful website, and (3) creating fieldwork possibilities at local elementary schools. The focus of the research is community-oriented. The course syllabus is extensive and filled with selected readings and ancillary materials for present and future teachers of foreign languages, while the entire website, a central focal point, provides teacher testimonials, methods, approaches, case studies, and a guide with completed units for teaching foreign languages at the elementary level. The research ultimately seeks to benefit foreign language educators by creating a community resource where educators across the Commonwealth will find information and access a variety of materials to improve their own foreign language teaching methods.