Effective teaching strategies of foreign languages in secondary diverse classrooms

The traditional style of teaching (teachers solely in charge of the classroom) seems to be a thing of the past, due in part, to the increasing diversity of students in the classroom. How can teachers abandon their traditional roles and adapt to the trends of teaching to promote more meaningful learning for students? To respond to the above question, the researcher investigated the degree of readiness of selected foreign language teachers teaching in culturally diverse classrooms at the secondary level in central Mississippi. All participants were purposefully selected. Methods and procedures employed were limited to observations of teachers, teacher-student interaction in the classroom, face-toace interviews, telephone interviews, transcribed audio taped interviews of the participants and classroom artifacts. Results indicated that all of the teachers interviewed were sensitive to the needs of their students; had traveled to the country where their foreign language was the official language; and indicated that they frequently used a variety of instructional methods including cooperative learning, peer tutoring, integrated technology, and direct instruction. Therefore, it was concluded that teachers such as the ones involved in this study could serve as excellent role models and mentors for novice teachers in secondary schools