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Publication Date

3-1-2024

Abstract

In this study, 96 world language teachers in the state of Georgia completed a survey regarding their delivery of instruction in the target language. While ACTFL (2010, 2021) recommends using the target language 90% or more of the time to deliver instruction, only 20% of the world language instructors who were surveyed reported doing so. According to ACTFL (2010, 2021), delivering instruction in the target language is necessary to create an acquisition-rich environment where learners are exposed to significant amounts of comprehensible input—a key factor for second language acquisition to occur (Krashen, 1982). This study examined three factors that may play a part in world language instructors’ practices regarding target language use; namely, teacher proficiency level, level of experience, and teacher foreign language anxiety. The results indicated that teachers’ self-reported levels of proficiency were not correlated with delivery of instruction in the target language; however, language anxiety and level of experience appeared to play a part in world language teachers’ target language use in the classroom. The findings of this study have implications for pre- and in-service world language teachers and administrators as well as for teacher education programs in Georgia and beyond.

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