Preparing Teachers for Hybrid and Online Language Instruction

Abstract

Courses that are offered fully or partially online are becoming increasingly common for various reasons including needs for more flexibility and the affordances that technology can offer. One major challenge is that most of today’s instructors did not learn online themselves and thus need to learn how to teach effectively using technology. This growing online trend is also true for language teaching, an area which demands special consideration due to its unique challenges: language teaching involves skill development and typically uses the target language as the medium of communication. Research has shown that teacher preparation and ongoing support are critical to the success of hybrid and online courses (Rubio & Thoms, 2014a). This article provides a review of the literature on best practices in preparing and supporting those who teach a language in online or hybrid environments. Based on this, a model for professional development is proposed, which can be used and adapted by language program directors. Guidelines on developing these courses and supporting teachers as well as suggestions for further reading are provided.