Learning “About” and Learning “Through” Technology: An Analysis of Syllabi from Foreign Language Teaching Methods Courses

Oct 15, 2026

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The study analyzes syllabi from foreign language teaching methods courses to assess technology-focused professional development for FL graduate students and teaching assistants following the 2007 MLA report’s call for “substantive training” in new technologies. Using methods course syllabi data (N=31), it examines how TAs learn about technology and learn through technology, finding considerable missed opportunities. Results indicate technology coverage in these courses lags behind advances, requiring the methods course to be rethought.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryResearch & Report

FormatPDF

Pages19

Reading Time48 min

AccessFree to download

Learning “About” and Learning “Through” Technology

Context: MLA recommendations and graduate professional development

Technology in the Methods Course

calico journal (online) issn 2056–9017 Article Learning “About” and Learning “Through”Technology: An Analysis of Syllabi from Foreign Language Teaching Methods Courses Katie B. Angus Abstract The 2007 Modern Language Association (MLA) report recommended that foreign language (FL) graduate students be provided with “substantive training in language teaching and in the use of new technologies”. In the present study, I examined teaching methodology (“methods”) course syllabi in order to gauge the extent of professional development in technology after the publication of the MLA report. Using data from methods course syllabi (N = 31), I explored how FL Teaching Assistants (TAs) learned about technology and learned through technology and found that there were considerable missed opportunities for both. Data suggest that technology in the methods course is not keeping pace with advances in technology and that the methods course needs to be rethought. Keywords: fl teaching methods course, teaching assistants, graduate students, professional development, syllabi The 2007 Modern Language Association (MLA) report “Foreign Language and Higher Education: New Structures for a Changed World” urged U.S. collegiate foreign language (FL) departments to rethink the content and goals of FL education. Whereas the 2007 MLA report was very specific about the needed changes in the undergraduate curriculum, it was much less so about the implications that such sweeping changes necessarily mean for the graduate students in FL departments. In fact, the report only made two related recommendations: “graduate studies should provide substantive training in language teaching and in the use of new technologies”(p. 7) Affiliation The University of Southern Mississippi. email: [katie.angus@usm.edu](katie.angus@usm.edu) calico journal vol 34.3 2017 317–335 ©2017, equinox publishing [https://doi.org/10.1558/cj.26850](https://doi.org/10.1558/cj.26850) 318 Learning “About” and Learning “Through” Technology and should “enhance and reward graduate student training … in language teaching”(p. 8). This relative lack of attention to graduate student education and teaching assistants1 (TAs) was discussed in several articles (e.g., Allen & Negueruela-Azarola, 2010; Pfeiffer, 2008) published soon after the 2007 MLA report. Although the MLA report focuses on the structure of undergraduate FL programs, the professional development of graduate students should not be overlooked, given the role they play as FL instructors both now and in the future. By recommending that graduate studies provide “substantive training … in new technologies” (MLA, 2007, p. 7), the ad hoc committee implied that TAs were not already receiving adequate professional development in technology. The present study will examine how TAs learn about and learn through technology in the most commonly used professional development opportunity – the methods course – in order to better understand current professional development in technology. Technology in the Methods Course Thoms (2013) surveyed TAs (N = 154) in 2010 to determine the nature of technology in methods courses. When asked to select technologies that were“addressed”(p. 210) in their methods courses, respondents revealed that the most commonly “covered” (p. 199) applications (i.e., PowerPoint, grammar websites, and discussion boards) were not Web 2.0 technologies, but were infact Web 1.0 tools. Although 70.9% of the respondents received technology training during their methods course, only approximately 40% felt confident with their ability to integrate technology into their own classroom. The extent and quality of engagement with technology is therefore unclear. In other words, “addressing” or “covering” a technological tool could mean learning about it, experiencing it, or both. Using a different survey, Dhonau, McAlpine, and Shrum (2010) found in their sample of teacher educators that the most commonly discussed te

FAQs

What prompted the study’s focus on technology training in foreign language education?

The 2007 Modern Language Association (MLA) report recommended substantive training for foreign language graduate students in language teaching and the use of new technologies, but it gave limited attention to graduate education and TAs.

How did the author study technology learning in methods courses?

The study examined teaching methodology course syllabi using data from methods course syllabi (N=31) to explore how FL teaching assistants learn about technology and learn through technology.

What conclusion does the study reach about technology in methods courses?

The findings suggest that technology coverage in the methods course is not keeping pace with technological advances and that the course needs to be rethought to create better opportunities for meaningful engagement.

Oct 15, 2026

Uploaded by Fans