1. The professional development of future professors of FL: Looking back & looking forward Heather Willis Allen University of Miami hallen@miami.edu

2. Overview Introduction –Rationale for the review –Methodology used in the review Looking back: Forms of research 1987-2008 Looking back: Foci of research 1987-2008 Looking forward: Future directions in research

3. Focus of the review Purpose: To determine what comprised the research base on the professional development of graduate students in U.S. university-level FL departments over the past two decades (1987-2008) and to suggest avenues for future research. Questions guiding the review: –What forms has this research taken? –What foci have dominated this research?

4. Rationale for the review A “Sputnik moment” for FL education in the U.S. (Wasley, 2008) Continued reliance on graduate TAs to teach undergraduate FL courses (Azevedo, 1990; Brandl, 2000; MLA, 2007; Salomone, 1998) Momentum for change re the FL curricula at the post- secondary level (Byrnes & Maxim, 2004; Kramsch, 1995; MLA, 2007; Scott & Tucker, 2001; Swaffer & Arens, 2005)

5. 2007 MLA Report: What about graduate students’ professional development? “The changes we foresee in the undergraduate curriculum call for changes in the way that graduate studies are structured... graduate studies should provide substantive training in language teaching and in the use of new technologies in addition to cultivating extensive disciplinary knowledge and strong analytic and writing skills.” (p. 7) -> Are needed changes understated in the Report? (Byrnes, 2001; Pfeiffer, 2008; Schechtman & Koser, 2008)

6. Methodology used in the review Delimiting the content Establishing the time period for works reviewed: 1987- 2008 Identifying the sources to be searched –Refereed journals of applied linguistics and FL education –AAUSC annual volumes (1991-2008)

7. Looking back: Forms of research 1987-2008 Published position papers Published descriptive reports Published empirical studies Unpublished doctoral dissertations

8. Looking back: Forms of research 1987-2008 1= 41 position papers 2= 21 descriptive reports 3= 21 empirical studies 4= 13 doctoral dissertations

9. Looking back: Forms of empirical research 1987-2008 Published studies Unpublished doctoral dissertations Quantitative71 Qualitative76 Mixed methods76 Total2113

10. Chronological development of the research base

11. Looking back: Foci of research 1987-2008

12. Foci of research: Understanding graduate students’ teaching experiences in FL departments The relation of TA beliefs to classroom teaching practices: –CLT (Fox, 1993; Dassier, 2001) –Grammar (Blyth, 1997; Katz & Watzinger-Tharp, 2008) –Technology (Burnett, 1998, 1999) –Corrective feedback (Rankin & Becker, 2006) TA and student perceptions of classroom language use (Dhawan, 2001; Morris, 1999; Potowski, 2002) Sources contributing to TAs’ self-efficacy as teachers (Liaw, 2004; Mills & Allen, 2008) Recommendations emerging from this research

13. Foci of research: Understanding graduate students’ teaching experiences in FL departments Role of NS / NNS status in shaping TAs’ beliefs and practices related to teaching (Jolivet, 1994; Kraemer, 2006; Liaw, 2004, Mills & Allen, 2008) Challenges faced by international TAs in U.S. university-level FL departments (Chalupa & Lair, 2001; Salomone, 1998) The influence of TAs’ gender on students’ perceptions of their teaching (Chavez, 1996)

14. Foci of research: Conceptualizing graduate students’ professional development -- approaches Moving from training to professional development--considering new / alternative: Views of graduate students’ needs as future FL faculty or “teacher- scholars” (Arens, 1993; Murphy, 1991) –as advanced FL users, curricular decision makers, and departmental stake-holders Departmental practices related to teaching assignments (Magnan, 1993; Gutiérrez, 1987) Theoretical frameworks for professional development (Berman, 1995; Kern, 1995; Kinginger, 1995) Discourses on language and literature teaching (Bernhardt, 2001; Guthrie, 2001)

15. Foci of research: Conceptualizing graduate students’ professional development Critiquing current practices: Limitations of how graduate students are prepared for teaching –related only to lower-level language courses (Gorell & Cubillos, 1993; Ryan-Scheutz & Rustia, 1999) –does not develop expertise in curricular development (Gonglewski & Penningworth, 1998) Overestimation of the lasting benefits of the “methods” course (Brandl, 2000) Overlooking specific needs of TAs in LCTLs (Chaput, 1991; Rifkin, 1992)

16. Foci of research: Conceptualizing graduate students’ professional development --tools & activities Proposing or describing: new graduate courses (15+ publications) integration of technology (Lord & Lomicka, 2004) increased attention to assessment practices (Magnan, 1991; Terry, 1992) collaborative activities including –peer supervision (Davis & Turner, 1993) –mentoring systems (Siskin & Davis, 2001) –team-teaching (Stepp-Greany, 2004) teacher learning logs (Wildner-Bassett, 1993) career portfolios (Dykstra-Pruim, 1998)

17. Looking back: Synthesis of findings Dominant preoccupation: From training to professional development Four recurrent themes: –A one-shot methods course is not enough –Opportunities to only teach lower-level language courses are insufficient –The knowledge transmission model of teacher development is profoundly flawed –One size fits all professional development is inadequate Dominant forms: Descriptive research However, increased sophistication in research design of empirical studies when compared with Bernhardt & Hammadou’s 1987 review

18. Looking forward: Future directions Deepening the existing research base –Replication studies –Multi-language and cross-institutional studies –Attention to heritage language and LCTL contexts Building on research from related fields Developing new foci of research –Longitudinal development of teaching expertise and teacher beliefs –Concrete outcomes of professional development in terms of both knowledge and teaching practices Considering how this research might inform departmental decision making

19. Conclusion “[O]ur progress in the area of teacher development has been disappointingly small... FL teacher preparation is still long on rhetoric, opinions, and traditional dogma, and short on empirical research that attempts to verify or test those opinions or traditional practices” (Schulz, 2000, p. 516-517)

20. More information This presentation can be found at: http://works.bepress.com/heatherwillisallen/ Forthcoming publication: Allen, H. W., & Negueruela-Azarola, E. (In- press, 2010). “The professional development of future professors of foreign language: Looking back, looking forward. Modern Language Journal. Contact information: hallen@miami.edu