World Languages Teacher Academy

at Texas A&M University

Our Program

Program Design

Our program is designed using the Student-Centered Framework and the Gradual Release of Responsibility Model for participants to gain insights into their teaching practices through diverse learning experiences. Participants are guided to set individualized goals at the beginning. The program consists of four phases:


  • Phase I (30 instructional hours):

    • Through four interactive online modules and four synchronous workshops, participants are introduced to Backward Design, STARTALK-Endorsed Principles for Effective Teaching and Learning, World-Readiness Standards for Learning Languages, NCSSFL-ACTFL Can-Do Statements, and the TELL criteria emphasized in our program;


  • Phase II (60 instructional hours):

    • A dynamic and supportive learning community is created for participants to apply what they have learned through a) a practicum at a well-established STARTALK Student Program; b) development of learning units and plans and c) peer-teaching;


  • Phase III (20 instructional hours)

    • Participants further their learning through micro-teaching with students who match the profiles of students targeted in their learning plans, as well as an additional online peer- and micro-teaching opportunities;


  • Phase IV (10 instructional hours)

    • Participants are provided with continued professional support to apply their new knowledge and skills, with preservice teachers gaining further classroom experience through TAMU World Languages Academy - STARTALK Student Program or a community-based world language tutoring request network, and in-service teachers implementing the learning units they developed during the summer in their own classes.


Pre-service teachers receive Texas A&M University graduate credits tuition-free and a voucher of $500 to complete world language teacher certification requirements, while in-service teachers receive up to 120 Continuing Professional Education hours for their participation in the program. The program culminates in an interactive closing workshop in which participants showcase their professional growth by presenting a multimedia teaching portfolio with learning units, plans, and video clips from each phase of the program. In this final showcase, participants highlight how STARTALK has transformed their teaching practices, inspired them to become reflective educators, and helped them develop the knowledge and skills to effectively implement the STARTALK Principles and create learning experiences with the TELL criteria emphasized in our program.

Our Approach

With a dynamic and collaborative model and through strategic grouping and programmatic use of the observation tools, we capitalize on the diversity of our participants and strive to support their development of teaching practices that exemplify the characteristics identified in the STARTALK Principles of Effective Teaching & Learning and the TELL (Teacher Effectiveness for Language Learning) criteria targeted in our program.

Peer-teaching is conducted in a group of four with at least one native speaker and one learner (non-native speaker) of the target language, as well as one pre- and one in-service teacher. The diversity of the group allows participants to examine their plans from multiple perspectives to apply their theoretical understanding in practice and develop critical analytical skills as language teachers and language learners.

With the guidance of the instructional leads, each participant revises their learning plans, refines their delivery of the lessons, and explicitly annotates how they have integrated the learning content and the written and oral feedback from their peers and instructional leads in their revision. The micro-teaching is conducted with students of the appropriate age and language proficiencies for each learning unit and is observed by another group of participants with at least one native speaker and one learner of the target language, as well as one pre- and one in-service teacher.