A world at peace is a world that has learned to communicate.

One central mission of the World Language Education program at the University of Wisconsin-Madison is to prepare and certify teachers of French, German, Spanish, Italian, Japanese and Chinese, although other languages are always welcome to join us. The program provides the rare opportunity to observe and participate in classroom activities in Elementary, Middle, and High Schools across the four semesters of the regular teacher certification program. We emphasize an approach to language teaching that combines knowledge of professional standards for both languages and teacher education, with an in-depth understanding of language acquisition and intercultural competence. Each student in the program develops a web-based portfolio that is available to school principals and other potential employers when students finish the program and prepare for the job market.

The other central mission of the program is to prepare graduate researchers in World Language Education, including issues of bilingualism, inclusiveness, and globalization at the Masters and the Ph.D. levels. Courses are selected to address the needs and interests of the students in the graduate program. There is a brief description of these programs on this website as well as here on the School of Education website. Interested students should contact Marilyn Fearn, the graduate program coordinator in the Department of Curriculum & Instruction, for information regarding admissions to the graduate program.

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