Technology in the Foreign Language Classroom

Requisites for improved instructional effectiveness in all disciplines have become more stringent as the result of increased teacher accountability and the move toward performance assessment. National standards such as the Standards for Foreign Language Learning in the 21st Century (National Standards in Foreign Language Education Project, 1999) and the National Educational Technology Standards (ISTE, 2000) are shaping current foreign language instruction. Curricular integration of technology as a means to address these standards is increasing in popularity, as educators become more willing to serve as facilitators and learn from their students, many of whom are more computer proficient than they. Many foreign language teachers in multimedia-enhanced, learner-centered classrooms are beginning to acknowledge this newest role [as learner] and seem willing to accept it openly (Spodark, 2001, p. 51). The national standards for foreign lanAbstract Although national standards such as the Standards for Foreign Language Learning in the 21st Century (National Standards in Foreign Language Education Project, 1999) and the National Educational Technology Standards (ISTE, 2000) advocate the need for enhanced curricular integration of technology, the reality is that colleges of education nationally are inconsistent in the technology requirements demanded of its preservice teachers. In addition, current foreign language pedagogy supports the use of technology to increase the opportunities for communicative practice in three contexts: interpersonal, interpretive, and presentational modes. To prepare its majors for the increasingly technologically complex demands of the field of education, the foreign language education program at a large, metropolitan Central Florida university developed and implemented a technology course that uniquely addressed concerns of foreign language educators. In this article, the author details the course objectives, content, activities, and assignments.