Illuminating the Enactment of High-Leverage Teaching Practices in an Exemplary World Language Teaching Video Library

Abstract

In response to the American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages’ initiative and the gap existing in identifying high-leverage teaching practices (HLTPs) in world language teaching, this study investigated and decomposed HLTPs in a video corpus of exemplary world language teachers. Specifically, this study clarified the definitions of some identified HLTPs and proposed one new practice—building connections to other content areas to promote students’ communicative competence. The proposed HLTP was broken down into component micro-practices and instructional moves illustrating the ways in which practices were enacted in particular classroom contexts. This line of research is important because only through making visible and breaking down instructional moves can novice teachers quickly grasp practices and truly learn to enact the teaching practice for themselves.