Abstract:

In this conversation between three language teachers from the same family with different teaching backgrounds (a retired AP Spanish high school teacher, a Spanish linguistics university professor emeritus, and a Spanish professor at a liberal arts college), we consider the ways in which our field has changed over the course of our careers and how we envision the future of the field. We argue that determining how to teach second language learners, native speakers, and heritage speakers in the same classroom, while simultaneously meeting the language learning needs of each group, will determine the success of the future of the profession.