Historically, culture has not been emphasized as much as linguistic features in the teaching of second languages, but the introduction of the National Standards has provided an opportunity for a shift in this trend This study surveyed 415 world language teachers and 64 teacher educators about the extent to which the culture standard is a focus of teaching and the motivators and barriers in maintaining culture knowledge Using descriptive statistical analysis, survey results suggest that both groups share some concerns, motivations, and barriers to teaching culture, but they also differ in significant areas The article concludes with some potential implications for teacher education programs as well as suggestions for continued professional development for teachers related to culture knowledge Key words: culture, professional development, Standards, survey results, teacher education Introduction Teaching culture in the second language (L2) classroom can be challenging for teachers at all levels of instruction This can be especially true for K-12 L2 teachers Teachers at these levels face challenges preparing, teaching, and assessing culture, which is particularly critical in a time where more pressure is being placed on K-12 districts and universities to maintain and grow language programs One of the challenges to teaching culture is the ability to learn and maintain culture knowledge Teachers are often left to their own devices to find cultural resources, instructional strategies, and frameworks for the teaching of culture Recently, however, the Standards for Foreign Language Learning in the 21st Century (National Standards, 2006) movement has reshaped how L2 teachers approach the teaching of language and culture in the classroom This is true for the area of culture, which in the past has suffered in comparison to linguistic elements of the classroom Historically, culture has not been given the prominence it deserves within language curriculum, methodologies, and instructional techniques In 1983, Stern stated that a balance between the two features of language study is difficult to achieve, either stressing linguistic forms, which in turn ignore the people who use the language, or emphasizing cultural matters, which fails to draw attention to linguistic form, making the language ''superficial and unserviceable'' (p 191) Despite efforts in the field to create this balance, culture has never quite achieved the status that linguistic forms have over the years in regard to teaching methodologies In response to the call of L2 educators (Crawford-Lange & Lange, 1984, 2001; Met, 2004; Schulz, Lalande, Dykstra-Pruim, Zimmer-Lowe, & James, 2005; Stern, 1983) to make culture a more meaningful part of the L2 classroom, the present investigation is part of a study conducted by the Professional Development Board (PDB) of the LangSource Project of the National Foreign Language Center at the University of Maryland (http://wwwlangsourceumdedu) in association with ACTFL It was the Board's charge to examine how pre-service foreign language teachers are prepared to teach culture and how in-service teachers are teaching culture Review of Related Literature In the 21st century, the Standards Movement provides an overarching and unified framework that situates culture as a primary component of language learning; however, this has not always been the case A historical examination of the place of culture within teaching methodologies sheds light on the current status of culture in today's L2 classrooms and L2 methods courses Evolution of Cultural Instruction Over the years, the foreign language profession has sought out the ideal method to teach learners an L2 Because some of the early methodologies of choice lacked a cultural component, the integration of culture into the curriculum has suffered from a delayed start A summary review of the evolution of the teaching methodology with reference to culture sheds light on why culture has been so long neglected …

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An Examination of Culture Knowledge: A Study of L2 Teachers' and Teacher Educators' Beliefs and Practices

The insufficient supply of K-12 language – world language (WL) and English as a second language (ESL) – teachers in the United States has been a pervasive challenge for school administrators seekin...

https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/pdf/10.1177/13621688211040297

COVID-19 and the pre-existing language teacher supply crisis

Teacher mobility represents a serious problem due to the instability of the teaching force that has persisted over time in many countries. Therefore, retaining qualified teachers represents a challenge given the difficulty of having the necessary workforce to face the educational challenges of each year. Our objective was trying to identify how mobility is understood and measured, that is, teacher turnover and attrition, and to identify the results of the related factors according to the different perspectives. The PRISMA-Scr protocol was used, which establishes the information that should be included in a systematic review. The following key phrases were used: “teacher rotation” or “teacher mobility” or “teacher desertion” or teacher leavers or teacher stayers. The databases used were Web of Science, Scielo Citation Index and Google Scholar, which yielded an initial total of 760 documents published between 2008 and 2018, that after identification, screening, eligibility, and inclusion processes, were reduced to 213. The selection of articles was carried out independently by two researchers using a structured and recursive hierarchical strategy. The existence of multiple ways of defining and measuring teacher mobility was identified and a definition based on two perspectives was proposed that summarizes the conceptual and operational findings, which are indirect and direct mobility. The first refers to the intention to leave and the second to leave. We have identified more evidence related to direct studies of a quantitative approach and focused on teachers with medium or short experience. The factors associated with mobility were identified based on the approaches used and a key element was identified when distinguishing teacher mobility, which is voluntary and involuntary mobility. We identified multiple factors associated with teacher mobility, among which the precarious working environment, poor organizational conditions such as lack of leadership and support among colleagues, excessive workload and low self-efficacy stand out. The limitations of this study are discussed. The findings of this study are highly relevant since they allow proposing medium or short-term policies, such as improving the organizational conditions of the school to promote the retention of the teaching workforce.

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Teacher Mobility: What Is It, How Is It Measured and What Factors Determine It? A Scoping Review

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World Language Teachers' Preparation, Beliefs, and Instruction in Central Florida

Teacher Training and Online Teaching: Bridging the Gap

Recent research has consistently shown that teacher working conditions are highly predictive of faculty turnover and student performance. However, very little work investigates specifically the experiences of foreign-language instructors. This paper reports results from a pilot survey of language teachers in public and private schools from across the United States. The responses show that, although they must meet the same training and certification requirements as other instructors, foreign-language teachers end up working under far more difficult conditions. Numerous teachers reported being responsible for an unwieldy number of students while lacking textbooks, a dedicated classroom, or time and space to prepare for classes. The results suggest that foreign-language instruction could become more effective if the working environment improves.

Coral Lopez-Gomez

Papers

Working Conditions of Foreign Language Teachers: Results from a Pilot Survey.