Audrey L. Heining-Boynton

Impact of an English-as-a-Second-Language Professional Development Program

The authors investigated the impact of professional development programs for English-as-a-second-language (ESL) teachers on their classroom practice and on the way that teacher efficacy and organizational support at the school level relate by interacting with years of teaching experience. The authors collected data by using questionnaires administered to 90 elementary and secondary teachers participating in ESL training programs. Results based on multiple-regression analyses indicated that teacher efficacy and organizational support significantly predict level of professional development impact without interacting with years of teaching experience.

Teaching Spanish preK-16 in the US: then, now, and in the future

This article chronicles the teaching and learning of Spanish in the United States (US) preschool through college (preK-16) from the 1800s to the present day and beyond. National and local policies, initiatives, and practices are reviewed as well as program and curricular models and methodologies at each educational level: pre-kindergarten through elementary school; junior high, middle, and high school; college and university. From the 1800s until the 1980s, teaching and learning Spanish was steeped in tradition, incorporating predominantly grammar translation and reading great works of literature. Some exceptions to instruction included the Berlitz method and the audiolingual methods. An enrollment crisis in the 1970s propelled change in instructional delivery. These innovations were guided by research that then informed the creation of local, state, and national policies and initiatives. More research needs to be conducted to understand how diverse types of learners can become proficient in Spanish. In a...

Early Childhood Foreign Language Education: Developmental Perspective and Implementation Guidelines

Abstract Foreign languages have been taught to children since the first days of formal schooling in ancient Greece. In this decade in the United States, nearly one quarter of all youngsters study a second language. This article presents a rationale for foreign language learning at the early childhood level. Then, a description follows on how to develop and implement a second language for children.