Foreign Language Policy and Teacher Education

Policymaking in American foreign language education is affected by a variety of factors, among them the increasing influence of outside forces such as politicians and business leaders, poor communication between high-level policymakers and practitioners, the paradox of national curricular and standardization efforts and local and state restructuring movements, and the diversity of policies governing teacher education. In view of projected teacher shortages, recruitment efforts need to be expanded and alternate routes to traditional teacher certification need to be explored. The wide diversity in subject-matter and pedagogical courses and experiences required for teacher certification across the fifty states is a matter of grave concern. The efforts of language organizations to create generic teacher education guidelines and language proficiency standards will be instrumental in providing needed leadership and guidance to reform efforts in foreign language instruction. Unfortunately, these reform efforts are being undertaken without the extensive policy and planning discussions needed to ensure that reform responds to future needs rather than to the status quo.