威斯康星大学麦迪逊分校

The mission of the World Language Education (WLE) program is (1) to promote a community-based approach to world language instruction; (2) to educate teachers who understand different cultures, are proficient in their languages, routinely visit other countries, and can build bridges across nations, races, socioeconomic groups, cultures, and languages; and (3) to certify teachers who are prepared to serve the global needs of increasingly multicultural and multilingual schools and are strongly committed to act for a world in which shared understanding through conflict resolution, negotiation and communication are guiding principles.

There is a growing need for multilingual teachers from diverse backgrounds. The WLE faculty encourages qualified applicants from under-represented groups to apply for admissions to the program.

The objectives of the K–12 WLE program are

• To provide a philosophy of action designed to promote thoughtful curriculum development and classroom teaching in WLE;
• To provide regular contacts with the global community and in-service teachers in schools through field evenings, workshops, conferences, and other professional meetings;
• To provide clinical settings which enhance opportunities for beginning teachers to develop skillful practice and build bridges across languages, cultures, races, and nationalities;
• To help student teachers use multilingual educational technologies and document their experiences in electronic portfolios and implement research-based practices in their teaching;
• To provide university instructors and supervisors who are well-versed in WLE, who have an international orientation, and who are both approachable and helpful to student teachers.

Program majors include Chinese, French, German, Japanese, Latin, and Spanish, and may also include Italian and Portuguese if field placements are available in these subject areas. Completion of the WLE program leads to a Bachelor of Science degree in education with a major in the specific subject area. Wisconsin state licensing regulations require that students are licensed to teach at the early childhood through adolescence (approximately kindergarten through high school) levels.

Oral and written examinations are required for all world language teacher candidates enrolled in Wisconsin educator preparation programs, as is an extensive immersion experience. (Students becoming certified to teach Latin are exempt from both the Oral Proficiency Exam and immersion experience requirement.)