Theory Meets Practice: A Case Study of Preservice World Language Teachers in U.S. Secondary Schools

Abstract

This case study looked at the transition of preservice teachers from world language education methods courses at a major U.S. university to a 5‐week field experience in secondary school classrooms. Data included lesson plans and self‐critiques of two lessons implemented during the field experience, world language teaching philosophies the preservice teachers wrote, e‐mail correspondence between the preservice teachers and their supervisor reflecting on the field experience, a final reflection paper, and responses to an open‐ended survey after completion of the field experience. Analysis of the data served to identify three teacher profiles: the communicative (CLT) teacher, the grammar‐translation teacher, and the hybrid teacher (a mix of the two other profiles). The article concludes with discussion of the findings and their implications for university methods courses, field experiences, and professional development.