Abstract:
As the U.S. becomes increasingly diverse and multicultural, World Language (WL) instruction can no longer be aimed toward monolingual English-speaking students acquiring a second language. High school students enrolled in WL courses often speak a variety of languages, with Spanish being the second most commonly spoken language in the U.S. Nevertheless, it is presently unknown what strategies are used with bilingual and heritage speakers of Spanish, and to what degree WL educators are prepared to teach a third language (L3) to Spanish-speaking students. To gain an in-depth understanding of the French teachers’ experiences teaching French as an L3 to Spanish-speaking students, and teachers’ preparation and training with this unique population of learners, a study was conducted utilizing grounded theory. A survey was administered to 100 Georgia high school French language teachers and follow-up interviews were conducted with 10 survey respondents. Data were analyzed qualitatively, and the results revealed the use of research-based strategies when teaching French as an L3. However, the results indicated that French teachers lack sufficient training for teaching French as an L3 to Spanish- speaking students.