ABSTRACT
This chapter focuses on a small segment of language teacher education, but one that is of great importance for the future of the profession: the preparation of graduate students for teaching within graduate foreign language (FL) departments. In the wake of changing beliefs about language learning and teaching but also as a result of oftentimes dramatically changed conditions for language departments, the preparation of teaching assistants (TAs) has, in the last decade or so, received much attention in publications and conference presentations. Important changes have resulted from these deliberations, not the least of these being a desire to hire into the position of TA coordinator and language program supervisor colleagues whose educational background explicitly prepares them for the extraordinary demands that go with the position. At the same time, recognizing the multiple knowledge bases and competencies that characterize the ideal coordinator can also create a sense of having “solved the problem” of assuring quality teacher education and therefore quality teaching, with few adjustments being required of other faculty members or of the program as a whole.
