World language educators face many challenges progressing into the 21st century. This research describes the practices of world language educators and presents a rich description of what constitutes an engaging 21st century world language classroom. The use of the target language as a crucial component in the world language classroom as well as barriers and challenges to its use emerged from this qualitative research. Among the obstacles identified are variations in pedagogical approaches, support of target language use, issues of language choice, and conflict between student and teacher perspectives. The research also highlights the benefits of professional development.