The Program in Foreign Language Education at Florida State University

Abstract

The Undergraduate Program Undergraduates preparing for FL teaching in the public schools earn a Bachelor of Arts degree and Florida teacher certification upon the successful completion of a FL major in the Department of Modern Languages or the Department of Classics and required professional education courses. Current Florida certification requirements for teachers of FL include a minimum of 2 sem. hrs. in special methods of teaching the subject, plus student teaching in a public school. However, in view of the complex and rapidly changing nature of FL teaching today, the Florida State Program in Foreign Language Education requires undergraduate teacher candidates to complete a sequence of three methods courses totalling 13 quarter hrs., plus student teaching. In addition to the three required courses, two elective courses are offered to undergraduates who desire further work. All required undergraduate courses are taught by instructors with extensive backgrounds in FL study, professional preparation, and FL teaching in the public schools. Each course in the required sequence for undergraduates is intended to provide students with a body of fundamental theoretical concepts about the teaching and learning of foreign languages, together with the needed skills for the application of these concepts in classroom teaching. The first course considers such areas as: the history and development of FL teaching; the values and objectives of a language program; the nature of language and language learning; an introduction to linguistics; current pedagogical trends, with emphasis on techniques for developing the four basic language skills; audio-visual aids; and sources of professional materials and guidance. A limited amount of observation of live FL classes at the Florida State University Laboratory School is also provided. The second required course gives further consideration to the teaching of the basic skills but gives considerable attention to the teaching of introductory literature, to cultural aspects, and to the construction and use of FL tests. Observation of language classes at the University School is required, just as it is in the preceding course. In addition, students prepare and teach one or