ABSTRACT

Second and foreign language (FL) teacher education have more commonalities than differences. Nevertheless, in the United States, English as a second language (ESL) teachers and FL teachers often complete their initial or continuing education in different departments or even different colleges. The reasons for this may be philosophical or historical or both. In the Second Languages and Cultures (SLC) Education program in the Department of Curriculum and Instruction at the University of Minnesota, we have long argued that second language (L2) contexts are fragmented and isolated from one another—in schools, in programs that prepare teachers for L2 settings, and in the profession at large (Tedick & Walker, 1994; Tedick, Walker, Lange, Paige, & Jorstad, 1993). In both preservice and inservice teacher education, FL teachers are primarily prepared in language departments, ESL teachers often receive their professional development in linguistics or English departments, and bilingual teachers are enrolled in isolated programs that are often linked to education departments administratively. Immersion teachers in the United States have little opportunity to have professional development that is designed to address their unique needs and issues (Met & Lorenz, 1997), although Canada and Australia are two countries where immersion-specific preparation programs exist (see, e.g., Day & Shapson, 1996; Erben, chap. 16, this volume). We maintain that language teachers, regardless of context, should engage in professional development together, and we have become aware of the rewards and challenges of combining FL and L2 teacher education.