In an online interview, Giselle Martin-Kniep defines a "Professional Learning Community" (PLC) as "a forum for continually improving learning," "an organizational lifestyle change" through which all stakeholders hone their skills to promote student achievement. Participants in a PLC become "critical friends" who advise, support, and "cheer on" one…

When the author was teaching in an elementary foreign language exposure (FLEX) program several years ago, she completed a research project that documented student learning gained from student dialogue journals. The action research initiative taught her the value of being reflective about her teaching practices. Her thesis research requirements…

Veteran and novice teachers of foreign languages at the Pre-K-8 level often state that visiting classrooms of accomplished teachers is the best professional development they have ever experienced. It is one thing to read about best practices and another to see them in action and then be able to implement them. Having the chance to visit the class…

In this article, the author presents teaching tips for elementary second or foreign language teachers. These include (1) using index cards for beginning level vocabulary practice; (2) chanting the words or phrases to help students remember; (3) taking the students' work out the door and spread the language to a wider audience; (4) pruning an…

Thematic units are more than isolated lists of vocabulary, grammar points, or language functions. It is important to design thematic units from the national standards with clearly defined objectives. They should offer opportunities for connections with other content areas. Units should also have a strong cultural foundation, perhaps centered on a…

As a teacher educator in a large public university, the author's methods courses are frequently comprised of both pre- and in-service teachers who are, or will be, working with culturally, linguistically, and cognitively diverse (CLCD) early language learners. It is incumbent upon the author to equip them with skills, strategies, and a sound…

Nandu, a listserv for elementary school foreign language teachers, was designed to address the need for peer discussion and up-to-date resources. In this article, the authors report on the findings of a small-scale study of what Nandu listserv participants discuss. Analyses of postings during a six-month period showed that teachers use the…

The reading and literacy focus of a unit that centers on chocolate can provide a context for using the interpretive mode of the communication standard from the "National Standards in Foreign Language Education." This article presents a thematic unit that is applicable to all languages and adaptable to any level. Inspired by Woodlands' all-school…

This paper introduces readers to Wordle, a data visualization tool, and describes how word clouds, or wordles generated by Wordle, were used in an action research project designed to facilitate the teaching of foreign language (FL) writing within a dual coding theoretical framework. Over the course of one semester, students in a third-semester…

Although the use of corpus data in language learning is a steadily growing research area, direct access to corpora by teachers and learners and the use of the data in the classroom are developing slowly. This paper explores how teachers can integrate corpus approaches in their practice. After situating the topic in relation to current research and…

This study explored the attitudes of students and teachers toward the use of interactive whiteboards (IWBs) in a foreign language teaching and learning context. The study also investigated possible factors affecting teachers' and students' attitudes toward IWB technology. Data were collected through questionnaires distributed to 458 students and…

This case study paves the way for a research and development project aiming to design a desktop videoconferencing platform specifically dedicated to synchronous language teaching. It starts by defining a model of language pedagogy adapted to distance and taking into account the affordances of videoconferencing for language teaching. It then…

This article examines types of interaction from the perspective of intervening agents and interaction outcomes. We argue that the strategic combination of these types of interaction with certain core features (such as dosified input, attainable goal-setting, personalization and collaboration) contribute to creating a more effective relationship…

Adopting a literacy perspective towards student interactions with digital media can extend and develop views of second language (L2) listening comprehension. In this case study, variations in "play" are grounded in a media literacy perspective as a way to frame student work with authentic videotext. Twenty-two Australian students of Japanese…

As readers of this journal will know, 2010 will see all KS2 (ages 7-11) pupils in England entitled to learn a modern foreign language in normal curriculum time. This development of the commitment to primary language learning should provide an excellent opportunity and experience for pupils, while at the same time requiring some radical changes for…